Dodgers week of series wins and roster Shuffling | Episode 269

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And we are back with another episode of the Bleed Lose podcast, a weekly rewind edition for the show. Me and Steve Webb here, fellow Dodgers ORG beat writer, are on the show today to recap the Dodgers. Exciting week, especially rebounding after the San Diego series, where they lost 2 over 3. They've rebound nicely taking series against our arch rival San Francisco Giants winning two to three in that one. And the conclusion of the Cincinnati Red series where the Dodgers, after losing game one,take three of four, and they get a nice walk-off win for Showy Otani, the first of his Dodgers career in what I expect to be many more over the next 10 seasons but steve it's been an exciting week it's been a lot of you know there's been a lot of moves a lot of turnover some fan favorites unfortunately are no longer on the team right now but what do you

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make of just briefly of just how week in general well i mean it it was there was a little blip there in the middle on Wednesday and Thursday where things were not not great to be a Dodger fan on those two days but but the rest of the week waswas very very good baseball being played you know like the offense to pick it up a little bit more but you know we you hate you hate to need walkoffs, right? And I'm glad we got one today, but hopefully there can be more eight to two wins than three to two ones.

Speaker 1258.04s - 280.28s

Yeah, you know, you mentioned the offense kind of being a little inconsistent, especially on Wednesday and then Thursday night. It seems like the Dodgers ORG hitters just weren't there. All in all, you know, Mukyu Betts PERSON also gets a night off one of those games, kind of thrown off a little bit of how the lineup is constructed. You know, they're playing 13 games in 13 days.

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Right.

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And the Dodgers playing a night game in one city and then playing a night game

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on the next night in the next city that's never easy that's never easy no travel time they have to get off a plane and get back on a plane get right to the stadium as soon as they wake up the next

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morning it's it's it's not easy so yeah it's not easy at all. And, you know, it's also especially harder coming off a series, which they lost again to the San Diego Padres ORG. We talked about this in our live this past Thursday. But the Dodgers, they kind of just were outmatched in San Diego GPE, outpitched, and out hit over there. And then they come into San Francisco GPE. You really don't know what you're going to get into over there just because the ballpark, the weather, the atmosphere, and then the way the team was slumping in those three games in San Diego GPE,Dodgers ORG rebound really good. They get two wins. They threw a bullpen game out there that kept them in the lead, kept them in the running for most of that night. It could have been a winnable game, but they end up dropping that finale.

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But what do you think of the giant series? Alixair Hernandez PERSON. Yeah.

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He made that turn into a bull to game to him. We appreciate what he did for us there. But what would you, besides that final game, what are your takeaways kind of from that series? It seemed like the Dodgers have kind of dominated the Giants ORG in almost all assets of the game.

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Yeah, that was a pretty convincing win in those first two games of the series. I think, you know, they figured on on Wednesday that, you know, why push it? It's early in the year. We could throw glass now on regular rest, but, you know, we've talked about glass now and managing his innings already. It's something that the Dodgers ORG have to be aware of.And it just didn't make sense to just push it at this point in the season, especially since you've already won the series. So that I don't mind what they did with that last game. And it was kind of like, you know, you're playing with house money. You might as well bring up somebody and just take a flyer on them and see how they do. But those first two wins were very impressive.And I mean, granted, this Giants ORG team, which is not that great to begin with, was really not that great at the moment, right? You know, they've lost their starting center fielder, and that really showed. I mean, that hit that Will Smith PERSON got in the extra inning game, uh, you know, it looked like, uh, Luis Matos PERSON was kind of alligator arming it thereat the end and just let the thing sail over his head. Um, so, so I, I think you're, you're, uh, spot on that, that, um, you know, it was, it was just a strong win all the way around those two games and exciting baseball. And certainly they didn't, they got good pitching, but they didn't need it because

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they were hitting pretty well there. Yeah, the Giants ORG are reeling right now. And this is a team that came in with lofty expectations, maybe not to win the division in 2024, but at least make a postseason push. And right now they're hovering between, you know, second to last place or kind of third place in the division. And that's just really not going to cut it in San Francisco, which is a team, you know, a couple years ago, they beat the Dodgers in the National League West. They won 107 games, and it just really hasn't been the same for them since.And I thought they had a really good offseason. I thought a lot of their moves made sense. They filled up holes, but just those players, like you mentioned, Zhang Hu Lee PERSON, he's out for

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the remainder of the season. That's a huge blow for them. Matt Chapman PERSON offensively hasn't really worked over there. And he also is one of the leaders in errors for the league, I believe it is a third baseman, which is just crazy, a guy that's won the platinum glove.

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It's considering how great he was in Oakland ORG. Yeah.

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And then you just add in the fact that it seems like back-to-back years, they're not getting a lot out of their pitching. They kind of struck gold with Jordan Hicks PERSON, transforming him from a reliever into a starting pitcher. But even Logan Webb, you know, he's been very shaky this year. And you can only dig yourself into a hole so far into a season. And I get that it's still early.It's late May right now. We haven't even hit Memorial Day yet. But at the end of the day, the Dodgers ORG, as we speak right now, the Padres ORG are currently playing. But they have an commanding eight-game lead over the second- the Padres ORG are currently playing, but they have an commanding eight-game lead over the second-place Padres ORG, and then it goes above thatover the Diamondbacks and the Giants ORG. So if they want to stay in postseason contention, the National League ORG after those division leaders, it's very, very competitive, and you're not going to have to finish. You're going to have to get at least 85 wins, and they're not on pace for that at all. Yeah.

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Well, the interesting thing is that I think at this point in the season, there's really starting to be some separation between the top of the National League and the teams that are just hoping that they'll get into that last wildcard spot. You know, you've got you've got Dodgers, Phillies, Braves ORG, and we can, we'll throw the Brewers and Cubs ORG in there too, right?And those are really the team, the only teams that are really playing, like consistently good baseball. And the others are really just kind of, you know, they'll have a little run and they'll lose a few games. And, you know, it's a lot of 500 teams. That's what's left. So, so you've got, you know, you've got, let's see, Phillies, Braves, Dodgers, Cubs, Brewers ORG, that's five. So there's one spot left for all those other teams. And I don't know if boththe Cubs and Brewers ORG will make it all the way to the end. So there might be another spot opening up, but I don't see anybody displacing the top four. So there's really two spots open for the postseason. And right now nobody wants it. Yeah. And the Dodgers ORG, you know, they continue to

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dominate the Giants this year. They, their only loss was that series finale game against Logan Webb PERSON. And like I said, you know, the Dodgers ORG made that very winnable. The pitching was good that game. It's just the offense fell flat in that series, from the series finale in that series, and then the series opener against the Reds ORG.But moving on from the Giant Series, Dodgers, like I said, took two of three up in San Francisco GPE. It's always good to get some wins up there. But then they return home to face the Cincinnati Reds, who a lot of people are on baseball, had a lot of high hopes for, they ended up getting a lot of injuries before the season starts, got a couple suspensions throw in there for some PED use, and the Reds are kind of sitting at under 500 entering the series,and now they're further under 500 after losing three of four against the Dodgers ORG, especially how we saw the Reds kind of own the Dodgers, to put it nicely, last year, just with their style of play with young athletic players, especially L.A.D. La Cruz PERSON, who is just a phenomenal guy. He knows how to play defense, offense, and he can steal pretty much any base he wants to. But what were your takeaways from this Red Series, especially, you know, that walk-off win today?

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Well, I mean, I think there were good things the last three days. I mean, the best thing about the last three days is, I think the only time the day of the cruise was on base was in that 10th inning on Sunday's walk-off winner, and he didn't even move from there. So, you know, I was kind of stunned that he didn't try to steal in thatsituation, but he didn't really have a shot. The thing that I liked was, you know, they did, he got four hits and stole, I don't know, 17 bases on the first day. But after that, Della Cruz PERSON was a complete non-entity, the rest of the series. They figured out how to pitch him. They knew that he has a lot of chase. They turned him around to the right side where he's not as good a lot. And he just didn't, he wasn't the same player that he was the first game of the last three.I mean, that was number one. The good thing on the pitching side is they made their adjustments and really, you know, neutralized Delacruz PERSON as an issue. And, you know, the rest of the Reds ORG just don't have, you know, there's not a lot of pop in that lineup. You know, Will Benson PERSON can hit a home run from a time to time. Spencer Steer PERSON can hit a home run from time to time.

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But these guys are not, you know, 30, 40 home run guys.

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So, you know, once De La Cruz PERSON is sort of out of the picture, you're not going to see the red scoring a whole lot of runs. And how many runs did they score the last three days, not many. Yeah.

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And then that first game was when Cruz PERSON was pretty much primarily on base, you know, almost had five stolen bases in a single game. After that, he ended up going like 0 for 9 or 0 for 10 with a couple Ks turn in there,

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and it was pretty much a non-factor. So I think that kind of credit to the Dodgers ORG for keeping him off base, I think a big takeaway that I could see from, you know, just how that first game went is kind of a problem that's still following them a little bit from last season. And that's just either the pitcher's ability to hold these speedy runners on or the inability of our catchers to throw those runners out. And I know with Cruz, it's extremely hard just because he is one of the fastest runners inbaseball. I believe he's either 99th or 100th percentile in sprint speed for the for major league baseball. But it is a little bit concerning because these are the type of things that are going to make the difference come October. And as we all know that we've been saying, that's all that the Dodgers are going to be judged on this year. And we saw last year with a young energetic Diamondbacks team making it in a team like the Reds ORG or a team with a couple players like that the Reds have could be a difference for the Dodgers ORG moving forward.And I think Tyler Glass PERSON now alluded to it in his postgame, he was very, very unpleased with his performance. And he even mentioned his inability to hold on Cruz PERSON was a pretty much a factor of why they lost that game. And I think it's good that he's taking credit for it and that him and the pitching staff and the catchers, you know, they have to work as a collective unit to hold these guys on.Do you still see some issues, at least moving forward with, you know, trying to hold these guys on, especially no one even just seems to do pitchouts anymore, which is kind of crazy.

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Yeah, especially with Dela Cruz PERSON, because he's got such happy feed over there. Yeah, I think, I mean, Will Smith's PERSON pop time is pretty good. So I think it's really an issue before the ball reaches the catcher. So I think they need to work on cleaning that up a little bit. And, you know, with the only two disengagement you can have through throws over, it really makes it hard to control the running game from the pitching side. So, you know, these young athletic teams are going to, you know, they see kind of a weakness in the Dodgers ORG.And they say, if you want to beat the Dodgers ORG, you got to run. And so the Dodgers ORG have to be ready to try to figure out how to neutralize that. Yeah.

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And I think the other takeaway from this series is Walker Bueller has made three starts so far, and this one was probably his best start since his return. It obviously was his best start. You know, he had a shutout outing. I believe he went six innings in that start. We've been kind of talking about Walker Bueller these past two to three weeks. You know, what were you going to expect when he returns? Has, you know, kind of hit or miss starts againstthe Marlins and the Padres ORG with some outlining positives that we could take away from each of those starts and then some negatives as well. But it seemed like you really put it all together in this and the Padres ORG with some outlining positives that we could take away from each of those starts and then some negatives as well. But it seemed like you really put it all together in this start. You're watching Walker Bueller PERSON. You're seeing how he's attacking these Cincinnati Reds hitters, especially these young aggressive hitters. I think the big thing for him was just to try to get ahead in the count, just because once they're down, oh one, you know, he has so many pitches to select from to get these guys out.So what were you seeing from Bueller PERSON in this recent start?

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Well, I think you hit it on the head when you use that word aggressive because, you know, the Padres ORG are a much more disciplined lineup. And they, you know, Bueller didn't help by getting behind most of the Padre ORG hitters all day in that second start. The first start, I kind of, you know,there was some good things, some bad things. It didn't bother me his first start. The second start was a little rougher. And I think the reason was, is he wasn't getting a hit. And this time, he really, you know, what did he have, like 70% first pitch strikes or something like that? So it was a welcome return, you know, and he was just dotting stuff there. He was on the black all day long, you know. So, yeah, it's a welcome return. You know know and he was just dot and stuff there he was on the blackall day long you know um so yeah it's obviously the best we've seen walker bueller um in a long long time i don't know if i'd go as far as ero caris PERSON didn't say it's the best he's ever pitched in his life but it it's it was a very impressive outing for sure yeah i think if you look at going back to 2022 because not many people remember his era was a very impressive outing for sure. Yeah, I think if you look at going back to 2022,

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because not many people remember, his ERA was over four that year before he got, you know,

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shoved with the Tommy John.

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So I think this is his best start in almost probably two collective years pitching. And he kind of showcased everything. I've said it all fair with, you know, a lot of the other contributors on the site. I think those are the one thing that I see that's particularly an issue for Bueller PERSON is his fastball just looks really flat. And I'm very intrigued. I'm very optimistic that he's hitting, you know, 95, 96 miles per hour consistently. However, big league hitters are bred to hit those types ofpitches. If there's no spin or if there's no rising to that fastball, there's no some type of movement, and it's just going to go straight on a line, that's where you can get kind of into trouble. And I feel like those first two starts against the Marlins and the Padres ORG, if these hitters were sitting fastball, they were getting good, clean hits off of it. I think this start, he actually turned into a pitcher's pitcher and started incorporating a lot of his breaking stuff. He had that sinker working.The pitch he really had working was the knuckle curve. He got a couple Reds ORG hitters off balance with those swings throughout that night. But I think the fastball is just the biggest issue. I have no idea what you could pretty much place on it. You know, I've written about, you know, how he had to transform his entire body. You know, he's written about, you know, how he had to transform his entire body. You know, he's gained a little bit of weight to put some extra muscle onto his arm. Maybe he changed his grip.Maybe he was one of those pitchers that ended up using some type of sticky stuff to help him in those previous seasons. And now he has to adapt to that. And he's also never pitched with the pitch clock as well. This is his first full season doing that since he wasn't available at all last year. So there's a variety of factors. I'm sure he won't give the answers to what he's changing in his repertoire.But it's just something that I've noticed from year on to now. And then even looking at the advanced metrics, everything still looks the same. You know, me and Juan PERSON were going back and forth like, well, what's his spin rate? Like, what's his fastball spin rate? And it actually had an uptick for this year compared to 2022. So I'm not sure.Maybe it's just something that he needs a couple more starts to kind of pinpointing that fastball a little bit more. But it just seems like major league hitters are just going to be on top of that every time he throws it. Yeah, well, we'll have to see.

Speaker 61264.5s - 1318.44s

It's interesting because I think, you know, it's small sample size theater right now, right? And, you know, the first two starts, everybody overreacted and said, oh, the woe was me, Walker Bueller PERSON is not what he used to be. He'll never be an elite pitcher ever again. And then after a Sunday, everybody was quickly deleted. is not what he used to be. He'll never be an elite pitcher ever again. And then after a Sunday,everybody was quickly deleting those tweets and saying, Walker Bueller PERSON is back. He'll be a Syong PERSON candidate for sure. So I think the truth is going to be somewhere in the middle, and we'll just have to see which one is he closer to. I'm going to say, you know, I'd like to see a good 10 starts out of himbefore I make any judgments about what we've got here. Yeah.

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I mean, he was against a very young, very aggressive team,

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and he dominated them. Yeah.

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I think this entire start...

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I think this entire start was a very good step in the right direction for Bueller PERSON.

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Kind of maybe you need to face these bad teams to kind of see what you have working

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and what you don't have working and then just putting out, putting away hitters. Because even at the end of the day, the Reds, they still have a lot of good team, a lot of good players. They were a fringe playoff team last year. They have lofty expectations this year to potentially make the postseason. So I think there's a lot of positives we can take from this. Obviously, if the Dodgers ORG want to succeed and get to where they want

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to go, they envision Bueller being a key contributor in that success. So looking forward to his next start, seeing how he can take from this start against the Reds ORG to his next start. But moving on to the next thing that we're going to talk about, it's probably going to take a lot of our conversation of this episode. And that is just the Dodgers roster move frenzy that they've been going on this past couple days. Regular season Dodgers ORG baseball, they always make, you know,

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changes in the pitching in the bullpen, calling up guys from AAA, taking flyers on guys from other teams for some cash considerations. But the two big ones I want to talk about right now is James Outman being optioned down to AAA OKC, Jason Hayward being activated, and then Miguel Vargas, who I mentioned a couple weeks ago, being recalled taking that left field spot in a platoon situation for the Dodgers ORG for the time being. Out of those things, we can probably lead off with the outman just because he is a friend of the show. A lot of people were high on this guy.Year two, his sophomore season, just hasn't gotten off to the right start. Were you shocked that the Dodgers decided to send down, Outman PERSON, or did you kind of see the writing on the walls?

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Yeah, I think really, you know, given if you're going to put Hayward PERSON back on the team,

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the only move that made sense was, for now anyway, was to put Outman on the bus to OKC GPE.

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He really, you know, just didn't, you know, there wasn't even a moment all year where you fought felt like, you know,

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he put together a string of three or four games where he was playing well consistently. It was just a lot of strikeouts and a lot of just in between, you know, he didn't know if he was sitting fastball, he didn't always look for a curve. He just was all over the place with his batting. And, you know, there's a lot of sad and slow walks back to the dugout. So it doesn't surprise me that he sent down. I hope he can turn it around in Oklahoma GPE and get things going againbecause it just wasn't happening here. And, you know, with Andy Pius, who had a good game again today, coming up and, you know, contributing, got a home run today to start off scoring, you know, I can't see an argument for keeping outman on the lineup. I mean, you know, we'll talk about it at some length, perhaps later, but, I mean, they can't get rid of Chris Taylor PERSON right now.They're kind of shackled to him unless they do a couple of maneuvers that would be perhaps something that they're going to consider. But right now, I think the move is sent Out and down, put him in the lineup every day in Oklahoma GPE, and see if he can work his way out of this in a less high-stakes setting. And maybe he can, you know, get on a bender and then come on back up. But for now, he's just not doing the team any good.

Speaker 11566.82s - 1613.4s

Yeah, I think the move made sense because, you know, you're activating a left-handed hitter in Hayward, and then you kind of are going to start eliminating starts for Outman PERSON, regardless, because Andy Baez is an everyday guy, and Jason Hayward PERSON, for the most part, is going to be an everyday guy playing primarily against right-handed pitching and Teoscar Hernandez PERSON I think has started every single game for the Dodgers this year so that's your that's your outfield right there andPaix PERSON credit to him you know he used to be you know a lot of people thought he was a corner infield or a corner outfielder and maybe transitions to a DH. Total body transformation ever since his surgery. And now he's pretty much, I would say, the primary center fielder now. And he's made a lot of good plays out there.

Speaker 61613.56s - 1616.98s

Without outrun, I guess who else is the center fielder? Yeah.

Speaker 11617.08s - 1639.14s

And then Paez, you know, he hits the home run today. And he's just continued to produce. And you can't send him down. You give him his new number, and he's still playing at a high level right now. And Outman PERSON, you know, he has played really good defense.He's always had a lot of strikeouts that's just been his game. You know, last year he had like over 180 strikeouts for the Dodgers ORG.

Speaker 61639.38s - 1641.8s

Yeah, he was like third in the national league in strike.

Speaker 11641.8s - 1701.6s

And it's still translating to this year. He's still striking out a high clip But one of the silver lining to the beginning this season It was like oh well he's making a lot of hard contact Like some of his outs are our line drive outs that are just not dropping where they may drop in like the summer But he kind of lost all that now he just wasn't having any good at batsHe wasn't walking he wasn't getting on base and the Dodgers just kind of to force their hand. And, you know, you brought up Chris Taylor PERSON. But the reason why Outman PERSON's easier, you know, to be the corresponding move is because outman just still has options. You know, he's still on that, you know, that rookie contract, that six years of like service time that he still has to get. He's only in year two. So they can send a noun, no problem problem but i think i really want to get into chris taylor because a lot of people were still confused just why the dodgers didn't you knowdFA him and i've explained pretty much candidly why they can't do it but i'm interested to see you know what your thoughts are in the entire process with chris taylor who's still on the active

Speaker 61701.6s - 1777.2s

roster well i mean i think primarily it primarily it's a money thing right now. You know, they just don't want to kiss 30 million bucks goodbye or whatever the pro-rated version of $30 million would be. And it's just, you know, they're hoping, you know, it might be a fool's hope right now, but they're hoping that, you know, he can get his act together and be a contributing player on this team, which he hasn't really been. I mean, since he, I mean, he was great in 21, 22 and 23 were steps back to be, to be sure. And then then and now here we are in 24 and it's just awfulum i don't i i can't see them keeping him all year but you know maybe they'll they'll figure out something to do with him i don't know the the old ph Phantom PRODUCT IL stint might be a thing that, you know, put him on the 60 day and just kind of park him somewhere. And, you know, but, you know, MLB ORG's kind of been cracking down on that kind of stuff.

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So, yeah, it's really hard. And that, you know, the Taylor situation, it puts the Dodgers ORG in an awkward spot. This is a guy they extended to a contract after that 2021 season, huge part of the postseason run where they ended up falling in the NLCS EVENT. But honestly, since he signed that contract extension, he's been a below average hitter. You know, he has an 86 OPS plus in that two and a half year span since he signed that deal. And he's actually battled a lot of injuries.He's missed a lot of time on the field. And a little bit kind of makes me question if he's battling some type of minor injury that's just lingering at him that's making his mechanics fall off just because even

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when he gets in the batters box, obviously he's not going to be super confident just because if you look at his slash line. But he just doesn't look comfortable in the batterers box either. So I think the Dodgers ORG could use that to their advantage at some point when they have to make another roster crunch when some other players are activated, or maybe James Outman starts lighten the world on fire in AAA ORG,and they want to just call him back up. They could obviously think of a way to IL him. And I know what you're saying, Phantom IL, MLB ORG is trying to crack down on that. It seems like the Dodgers ORG are still kind of doing that in a way, just because some of the updates they give us with injuries, we kind of just look at him with a little side-eye, like, yeah, we understand it. You want to make that roster move, give up that extra pitcher.The other hard thing with Taylor PERSON is that you can't send it down you know he's he he's eclipsed that service time in the MLB ORG level where he cannot be sent down to the minor leagues without his consent and the only player that we've seen that kind of happened to recently was

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Jose Abraeu on the Astros ORG and he had to agree to it so that has to be right and that's a

Speaker 61879.2s - 1884.88s

union thing too you know you can't just send somebody down to the minors yeah and then in terms

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of i mean

Speaker 61885.9s - 1891.24s

this is what taylor's 10th season of major league service time so that was what i was a little confused on so i

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wrote an article a couple weeks ago i thought he since it already had him listed as like 10 years on fan graphs and baseball reference he still actually doesn't have 10 years service time so i thought he was already under the 10 55 rights. He will eclipse

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that next season. So the Dodgers ORG can still trade him if they can find a partner and he has no ability to veto it. The only part about the 10-5 rights that he does have is that he just can't get option down to the minor leagues, which happens when you eclipse five years of MLB ORG service time.

Speaker 11923.7s - 1982.3s

So Taylor PERSON, you know, you mentioned it's a money thing. It is a money thing. It's very hard to DFA almost $30 million. Even if you are the Los Angeles Dodgers ORG, when you have a player like Chris Taylor PERSON, who I know a lot of Dodger ORG fans don't want to hear it,but he has a lot of upside. You know, this is the guy that has a lot of versatility. He used to hit lefties very well. He has a lot of pop. And at the end of the day, he was just really clutch, whether it was offensively or defensively in the postseason.And the Dodgers have stated, you know, this entire offseason with some of the players that they've acquired or reacquired like Kike Hernandez PERSON. They value that right now because they are in a win now mode for October. How long they let the Chris Taylor experiment go for this entire season? I would say if he's not corrected by the All-Star EVENT break, it's really either IL or trade.I don't see them DFAing him, but I also find it hard a team trying to acquire him unless the Dodgers ORG pay a significant portion of his salary.

Speaker 61982.94s - 2037.38s

But I feel like the Dodgers ORG would want to get something. Essentially in DFA with maybe a little kickback. Yeah, it's stuff. I feel for the guy because I've always liked him as a player because he's always come through in the clutch. You know, I wrote an article that's on Dodgers beat now about Chris Taylor PERSON that I put up,I think, this morning. And it's, you know, I were kind of recounting all of the big moments that he's had, you know, how he had that big catch in Milwaukee GPE. And then he had, you know, he let off the 18 World Series EVENT with a home run. And then he had three home runs and one game in the World Series, I think. And then, of course, his biggest moment is that walkoff winner against the Cardinals in 21.

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So, you know, he's got all these moments that, you know, you sort of are holding onto for nostalgia's

Speaker 62046.28s - 2057.82s

sake and you want him to be back in the fold because he has met a lot to this franchise over the last you know half a dozen years so yeah we'll see we'll see I

Speaker 82057.82s - 2063.76s

I'm doubtful that he'll be on the roster by the end of the year but we'll see

Speaker 62063.76s - 2065.88s

yeah it is a waiting game.

Speaker 12065.96s - 2133.38s

I believe the Dodgers ORG are going to still try to get him some runaway, but if he doesn't take off, you know, it's another big decision that the Dodgers is going to have to make. However, before we segue to the end of the show, one of the players that they did recall was Miguel Vargas PERSON, who everybody knows was the opening day second basement for the Dodgers last year,did not have a good first full rookie season ending up, ended up getting option down to the miners at the trade deadline, not to be seen again for the rest of the season. But as I've mentioned before in previous lives and previous articles, he has been tearing it up in AAA OKC ORG right now. I figured eventually the Dodgers ORG would give him the call.Interestingly enough, he has started every single game in left field for OKC GPE. Coming in for the injured Muncie right now, there was maybe a little bit of question mark, oh, does he shift back to third? Dave Roberts is sure that he's going to be the games he starts. He will be specifically playing left field. So take two for Vargas PERSON in the majors. What are your expectations, and do you think it's a roster move that'll last a long time?

Speaker 62133.58s - 2305.96s

Or do you think it's just for a couple weeks? We'll keep an eye on it. I mean, he didn't cover himself in glory in left field when he read to Andy Pagas on Saturday, did he? But we'll see. Hopefully they can work out that communication issue.I mean, that's a very young outfield there. You know, one guy's got, you know, 20 games of service. The other guy's got a half a year. So it's not exactly, you know, the murder is row out there. So we'll see. I'm hopeful Vargas PERSON.I mean, Vargas PERSON is, I hope Vargas does not turn into, and I don't want to use this example, but I will anyway. Don't turn into what we saw from Gavin Lux PERSON. Now, I think Gavin Lux PERSON is going to come back eventually, and he's been playing better lately. But, I mean, Gavin Lux tore it up in AAA ORG,and has never come close to that in the big leagues. I mean, this is what I think is fourth year up here, or some 50 or maybe, well, depending on how you count last year. So I hope he's not just a, you know, a AAA ORG only star. He really had a rough go of it last time and we'll see how things go. I hope it would be nice to have somebody that could, you know, at least be there from, I don't know. It's, I think a lot of it,and, you know, seeing how Mookie Betts played shortstop this weekend, you know, I think they got to figure out some other strategy for the infield. And, you know, if that means moving Mookie PERSON back to the outfield, I don't, I don't know if it means moving mooky back to to the outfield i don't i don't know if it does uh but but i mean vargas at least could play infield uh i don't know it's i don't i don't see a real uh future for that infield you know it, it's just not a big league championship infield. It's so, I don't know.Mookie PERSON has shown moments where he's great, and I know we're supposed to be talking about Vargas PERSON, but I think what happens to Mookiee PERSON is key to whether or not Vargas PERSON stays on the team. I would like Vargas PERSON to at least get good enough to where we can count on him wherever he is on the field.So it'll be interesting to see what he's got this time around. Hopefully he's a little more mature, ready to play, because it was not a great 2023 for him up here.

Speaker 12306.44s - 2382.26s

Yeah, I think if he gets off to a strong start similar to what we saw with Pahez or even somewhat a little bit less than that, I think when I look at it, if they really view him just as an exclusive outfielder in left field in a platoon role, I really think they're just, he may be auditioning to be Chris Taylor's replacement if he's not here on season's end. I'm trying to look at the Dodgers ORG' holes. You know, you mentioned Mookie Betts PERSON may be a question mark at shortstop.Does he go back to second? Does he go back to the outfield? And then I'm trying to look at, all right, well, internally, what do the Dodgers ORG have? And Miguel Vargas PERSON is there. He is a guy that is a doubles guy. He is an 800 OPS guy in the minors.He knows how to hit a baseball. I think he was a little bit plagued with that, you know, that arm or, what was it, that finger injury that plagued him all spring training where he couldn't swing the bat. I think that probably lingered within the entire season, delaying his start kind of. But, you know, if you're a non-fan of Chris Taylor PERSON you're probably rooting for Vargas PERSON to take his spot and I would say that is very possible andthat's just because I'm looking at the trademark and I really don't see many teams selling because you know I mentioned in our chat the other day with all our writers saying everybody that's around that 84 win mark thinks they have a

Speaker 62382.26s - 2392s

chance to not only make the playoffs but make the World Series so So it's going to make the trade. And, you know, I think, you know, people who are

Speaker 82392s - 2397.44s

still on the Willie Adama's train have got to get off that train because the Brewers ORG are not.

Speaker 62397.44s - 2403.34s

I was off of it. I was never on it. And still people saying it, but I said the Brewers ORG are winning their

Speaker 12403.34s - 2406.14s

division right now. Give that up right now.

Speaker 62406.38s - 2435.02s

You know, maybe when if the Brewers had tanked this year, you know, if they were playing like, I don't know, the Barlands ORG or something like that, maybe you could get it. But you're not getting him if the Brewers are in first place. They're not, you know, they've already, you know, they already had to face the wrath of their fans for trading Josh Hader PERSON at the deadline when they were still competing for us, a playoff spot. It's, it, they would not do that again, I don't think. Yeah.

Speaker 12435.16s - 2482.88s

So I think it's just going to be, it's, it's going to be up to Vargas PERSON. If Vargas wants to stay, he has to show it and prove it at this level and force the Dodgers ORG hand. Force the Dodgers hand like they did with Andy Bahes PERSON. You know, if you want to stay up here at this level, he's already got his big league number. If he just wants to hit the ball and show the, you know, what we saw from him in the minors and then in spring training, he could very well be replacing somebody and taking somebody's job.So I think it's just a matter of time we'll tell how long Muncie PERSON's out is probably, you know, how much leeway they're going to give Vargas PERSON. Once Muncie comes back, if Vargas PERSON isn't hitting, then there you go. That's your corresponding roster move right there. But other than that, any closing thoughts, Steve PERSON, before we end the show?

Speaker 62484.08s - 2654.9s

Well, you know, this was always going to be kind of a tough little stretch here because with 13 games and 13 days is, and I think they've navigated it pretty well, to be honest. The bullpen's holding up.You know, Blake Trining PERSON continues to put up zeros. Alex Vesia, you know, he did walk that guy in Sunday's game, but, you know, he's been fantastic.And, you know, we need to start giving love to some of these lower level leverage bullpen guys because they have been holding down the fort. It's been, you know, really remarkable. So I think, you know, the kind of the games on Wednesday and Thursday were not great, but I think overall you're just seeing the Dodgers ORG picking up steam. And it'll be nice if they could have a nice little series win against the diamond backs,put a little more distance between us and them. And, you know, this, you know, I don't want to, you know, start selling any championship hats yet. But, you know, you could be in a position where there are 10 games up before Memorial Day hits because they're practically there already. And we've got two more, another 10 days of this month left. So, you know, things are moving along very well. We just need to kind of strengthen the bench.And I think, you know, figure out who's going to be on the bench going forward and who's going to be, you know, finding another place to play. So, but I mean, the thing that's interesting is, I don't know if we can get any buddy at the trade deadline that we want. but just how many trade pieces the Dodgers ORG have right now that they've been showcasing i mean i don't know who they're going to trade um you know but but you know if you just look at the young starting pitching that we've we've had just in the last week you know we've gone this whole show and I've talked about how great Gavin Stone PERSON's been.And that's another guy that it'll be interesting to see what they do with him. Once you get, you know, Kershaw and maybe D. May coming back toward the tail end of the season. back toward the tail end of the season. There's going to be a lot of potential trade pieces that can maybe entice a good bat to fill out the bench a little bit better.

Speaker 12655.14s - 2655.28s

Yeah.

Speaker 62655.52s - 2723s

And all and all, pretty much everything you've gone on and said is, one, I don't think the Dodgers ORG have played their peak baseball or their best baseball as a collective unit. You know, some players are hot while some players are cold. So I think we're going to get to those days in summer where everything is clicking and this team may look unstoppable.But there still is holes. The trade deadline, it is getting closer now. We are about to enter June. We're going to start hearing the rumor mill heat up. We're going to see a lot more players' names that are thrown out there. And the Dodgers ORG, just due to the circumstancesthat they're in, they are in World Series EVENT or bus mode, they're going to be linked to a lot of those players. And it's going to be an interesting time. It always is around June and July, especially for writers on Dodgers B ORG, where we kind of throw names at a wall and hopefully something sticks for an article. But the Dodgers ORG do have some needs. They haven't played their best baseball yet. And yet they still have an eight-game lead in the National League ORG West, the largestlead in any division in baseball. And we're doing all this without a closer. So that's, you know, even better. Even better.

Speaker 12723.58s - 2726s

And we'll hopefully come back soon, Evan

Speaker 62726s - 2788.88s

Phillips PERSON. Yeah. And then that'll about do it for this episode of the Bleed Loves podcast, this weekly rewind edition. The Dodgers for this next week, they have a set that they're kicking off today,if you're listening, against the Arizona Diamondbacks, and another NL ORG. West matchup. That'll conclude the 13 games and 13 days and the final home series before they kick it back and go ahead to Cincinnati to re-up with them again and going back-to-back Sunday games with the Reds ORG.So it'll be a great week of Dodgers ORG baseball. Hopefully they can stat pad that lead there. But I am Cody Snavely PERSON. That is Steve Webb PERSON. And be sure to subscribe, have the notifications on. We're going to have a lot of content these next couple weeks, especially forthose home series. And just be sure to check out the website as well. It's because we have been pumping out pretty much articles every day. There's a lot of stuff to talk about, a lot of debates, and we would just love everybody's opinions on what they think they should do for the Dodgers ORG and what their opinions are for these players. So other than that, I'll see you on the next one.

Speaker 42789.5s - 2791.04s

Astila vista, Dodger ORG fans.

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