Series Thread (Games 53-56): 5/28-31 vs Phils

Sorry for the late thread...posting this for no particular reason....

Mon, 5p: Brock Stewart vs. Vince Velasquez LAD 5, PHI 4
Tues, 7p: Jake Arrieta vs Kenta Maeda PHI 6, LAD 1
Wed, 7p: Zach Eflin vs Ross Stripling LAD 8, PHI 2
Thurs, 4:30p: Aaron Nola vs Clayton Kershaw PHI 2, LAD 1

Series Thread (Games 50-52): May 25-27 vs. Padres

Friday, 5.25, 7p: Ross Stripling vs. Clayton Richard LAD 4, SD 1
Saturday, 5.26, 7p: Alex Wood vs. Lyles SD 7, LAD 5
Sunday, 5.27, 1p: Walker Buehler vs. TBD LAD 6, SD 1

With the Dodgers taking two of three from the NL West-leading Rockies, and winning six out of their last seven games, the Dodgers amazingly find themselves only 3.5 games back of first. This is despite having one of the worst starts in franchise history, and playing absolutely maddening baseball when it comes to RISP.

Those two wins against the Rockies were impressive, with one a comeback victory and the other a Kenta Maeda 12-strikeout gem. But now it's out of the frying pan, into the friars. Wait, that pun doesn't work so well here, so maybe I'll use it on Monday when we face the Phillies (why isn't this a four-game series for the Memorial Day weekend? This makes no sense).

It all starts with you, Chicken Strips.

Series Thread (Games 47-49): 5/21-23 vs Rox

Monday! Pepto! Acid reflux!

Mon, 7p: Walker Buehler vs German Marquez COL 2, LAD 1
Tues, 7p: Kenta Maeda vs Chad Bettis LAD 5, COL 3
Wed, 7p: TBD vs Kyle Freeland LAD 3, COL 0

Series Thread (Games 44-46): 5/18-20 @ Nats

Sat, 11:05 AM: Ross Stripling vs Tanner Roark (Game 1 of doubleheader caused by rain 5/18). We won! (we won) We won! (we won)
Game 2, 5:05 PM: Rich Hill vs Max Scherzer We won! (we won) We won! (we won)
Sun, 10:35 PM: Alex Wood vs Stephen Strasburg We swept! (we swept) We swept! (we swept)

Series Thread (Games 41-43): 5/15-17 @ Fish

Tues, 4:10p: Alex Wood vs Wei-Yin Chen We lost. To the Marlins. Who have the second-worst record in the NL.
Wed, 4:10p: Walker Buehler vs Caleb Smith We lost. To the Marlins. Who have the second-worst record in the NL.
Thurs, 9:10a: Kenta Maeda vs Dan Straily We l—we won??????

Loyal SoSG reader/softballer Johnny Blanchard, to paraphrase the immortal Def Leppard, has got something to say! Take it away, Johnny B!

WHO TO BOO?

Who’s responsible for this garbage?

This has been just a fascinating start to a season. The Dodgers have an absolutely loaded roster, full of players that the hoi polloi have dreamed of having for decades. This, of course, stands in direct contrast to whatever the hoi polloi say.

Currently, the Dodgers still have a positive run differential. Therefore the team is not the Reds, Marlins, or Padres despite the fact that those teams are literally right next to the Dodgers in the standings. The hoi polloi are not known for their collective intelligence.

That said, the Dodgers baseball club is not winning games at a high rate, so it must be asked: who is to blame?

The culprits are as follows:

1. Cody Bellinger. This cocky m’fing Millennial is missing all the balls and I have heard from back channels, because you know I have access, that there are people in the Dodger organization that don’t believe in this guy. I guess it’s not entirely germane to the discussion, but worth noting since he’s stinking up the joint right now. The Dodgers could’ve done a blockbuster trade and sold this guy high maybe. What do I know.

2. Yasiel Puig. A man who has shown a great degree of resiliency to hang in mentally and improve his approach to the sport of baseball, has been an abject failure at the dish so far this year. Puig continues to play excellent right field so he is still a net positive, but the club was counting on a solid bat from old number 66.

3. Kenley Jansen. Our big man, the most lock-solid dependable player on the roster, alongside Justin Turner & Clayton Kershaw, has been absolutely awful this year. One wants to believe things will improve inevitably, but one needs to wait until Mr. Jansen actually starts throwing pitches like Dodgers fans are used to seeing before the faith increases. To whom much is given, much is expected.

4. Scott Alexander. The Dodgers count on the guys they have designated to be their breakout performers based upon careful analysis of sabermetric principles to be actual breakout performers. This guy can’t stop walking people. Now, another time-tested Dodger method is to send underperformers to the bush leagues and get their act together. Mr. Alexander has just returned from his sojourn to Oklahoma so perhaps he will repent of his prior ways.

5. Chris Taylor. He’s lower on the list because one shouldn’t actually believe in a guy that has no reason why one should believe in him other than one year’s good production. Mr. Taylor is like Mr. Bellinger — missing the ball all time but at least he plays premium defensive positions like shortstop and center field with his weak bat.

6. Austin Barnes. This is another young man designated to be awesome by the front office. Mr. Barnes has not done so. He is making lemonade out of lemons through super on-base powers but he isn’t hitting the ball well. Plugging him in the lineup with last year’s productivity makes this team much better.

7. Rich Hill The New Englander is scuttling. He’s still striking guys out, but watching him, Mr. Hill is obviously giving up too much hard contact. Fortunately, this red-ass plays the game the right way and beats himself up nightly to be better at playing baseball so he should improve.

HONORABLE MENTION: Logan Forsythe, who doesn’t make the list because he’s injured and has struggled with injuries and it’s not nice to pick on guys whose bodies aren’t working right.

All this said, and believe me, it’s annoying to watch all this craptastic baseball happen, this team is not nearly this bad. The Dodgers have given up a .300 BABIP and a 14% Home Run per Fly Ball rate; both of those numbers are in the bottom 10 in baseball.

In other words, the Dodgers are suffering bad luck on the pitching side. To further illustrate, Tony Cingrani has stuck out 22 and walked 4 in 14 innings, and has a 5.79 ERA.

My recommendation is to go out and watch the baseball team you love and boo them when appropriate. It has been fun in 32 years of being a Dodger fan to hear people argue about the validity of booing, but finding the appropriate members of the roster to boo is of vital importance.

We are not in the salad days of Juan Pierre & Andruw Jones & 2011-2012 Juan Uribe. The guys we have to boo are much better players and they are the guys listed above.

Thanks Johnny! Oh, by the way...

Roberts said he expects Justin Turner and Logan Forsythe to be in the Dodger lineup Tuesday in Miami.

— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) May 13, 2018

Series Thread (Games 37-40): May 10-13 vs. Reds

Thu 5/10: Walker Buehler vs. Tyler Mahle, 7p We lost. To the Reds. Who have the worst record in the NL.
Fri 5/11:: Kenta Maeda vs. Brandon Finnegan, 7p We lost. To the Reds. Who have the worst record in the NL.
Sat 5/12: Ross Stripling vs. Homer Bailey, 6p We lost. To the Reds. Who have the worst record in the NL.
Sun 5/13: Rich Hill vs. Luis Castillo, 1p We lost. To the Reds. Who have the worst record in the NL.

With a 16-20 record, fourth place in the division and back a full eight games of surprisingly hot Arizona, the Dodgers haven't had much about which to be happy of late. (Especially if you saw Kike Hernandez' woeful 0-fpr-5 with 2 Ks, 8 LOB, and misplay in the outfield leading to a Diamondbacks inside-the-park home run last night.)

But one of those few bright spots seems to be Walker Buehler, who is 2-0 in 3 games (16 IP), with a 1.13 ERA and 19 Ks. He takes the mound tonight to start a four-game series against one of the only three teams who have a worse record than the Dodgers, the Cincinnati Reds. The Giants already lost today (to the Phillies) and are in Pittsburgh this weekend; the NL West-leading Snakes host the Nationals starting Friday.

Maybe this is the series where the Dodgers get some timely hits for a change, and we make up some ground in the standings before the quarter-season mark hits?

Or, maybe things get even worse.

Series Thread (Games 35-36): 5/8-9 vs Snakes

Tues, 7p: Rich Hill vs Zack Godley ARI 8, LAD 5
Wed, 7p: Alex Wood vs Patrick Corbin LAD 6, ARI 3

Like the Offspring says you gotta kick him when he's down — and the fourth-place Dodgers (15-19) are definitely down:

pic.twitter.com/87Ptq1ujI3

— Sons of Steve Garvey (@sosgsosg) May 7, 2018

And since the first-place Snakes (23-11) are trending up, this two-game series promises to be uggggggly.

And we promise to bitch and moan about it! Join the (crying) in the comments section!

Hilo del Juego (5 de mayo) contra Padres, 4p

¡Hola, compañeros! Bueno, funcionó ayer, puede funcionar hoy. Si Karina escribe, los Doyers ganan. ¡Vamos a probar esto otra vez! -Stubbs

¡Sí, Señor!

Felicitaciones para Walker Buehler, Tony Cingrani, Yimi Garcia y Adam Liberatore en su juego sin hits ni carreras. Brindaremos en su nombre todo el fin de semana, ¡gracias! y ¡salud!

Los Padres esperaban que sus influencias religiosas los ayudaran a vencer a los Doyers, pero no tomaron en cuenta que los Doyers son ateos este fin de semana. Pensaron enfrentar a un amateur y encontraron a un niño bomba, seguido de un bullpen con toda la clase y poder de Danny Trejo. Chris Taylor y Kike Hernandez trajeron dinamita en sus bates y los Doyers salieron victoriosos 4-0, en una noche inolvidable para la amplia historia de buen pitcheo de nuestro equipo.

Esperemos que los Padres sigan viendo sombras en el juego de hoy. ¡Fondo blanco!

*Imagen: Baby Says "No!", Alisa Coburn

Hilo de la Serie (Games 32-34): 4-6 de mayo contra Padres

Bienvenido al fin de semana! En esta serie, seremos los Hijos (y Nuera) de Steve Garvey, porque estamos en América Latina, invitamos a nuestra latina favorita, Karina, para que fuera nuestra escritora invitada. ¡Adiós, y buena suerte a todos! - Stubbs

Viernes, 6p: Walker Buehler vs Joey Lucchesi, LAD 4 - SD 0 Combined no-hitter!
Sabado, 4p: Kenta Maeda vs Bryan Mitchell, SD 7 - LAD 4
Domingo, 1p: Rich Hill vs Eric Lauer, SD 3 - LAD 0

En las inmortales palabras de los geniales Molotov, ¡VIVA MÉXICO, C*BRON*S!. Empezamos el fin de semana del 5 de mayo en Monterrey, México, con el inicio de la serie Doyers-Padres (pronounced PadRRes). En México no se celebra el 5 de mayo, pero nosotros lo usaremos como excusa para tomar margaritas y micheladas, si los Doyers ganan, celebramos...si pierden, ¡se nos olvida! Fondo blanco, damas y caballeros, ¡SALUD!

Casi veintidós años han pasado desde la primera vez que un juego de Grandes Ligas se celebró fuera de las fronteras de EE.UU. y Canadá, el 16 de agosto de 1996, precisamente en Monterrey, el escenario de hoy. Fernando (<3) lanzó el primer pitcheo y también se desempeñó como el lanzador de los Padres, quienes derrotaron a los Metropolitanos 15-10 (¡disculpa, Delino! Quizá los Metropolitanos pensaron que era una práctica de bateo).

En aquella oportunidad, el único jugador mexicano en ambos rosters era Fernando (<3<3), en esta serie, tenemos al Padre bebé, el nativo de Guadalajara, Christian Villanueva. Sin embargo, los Doyers tienen dentro de las filas del circuito radial en español a Fernando (<3<3<3), así que de antemano les hemos ganado la partida a los Padres porque si Fernando (<3<3<3<3) está con nosotros, ¿quién puede contra nosotros?

El encargado de abrir por los Dodgers será nuestro bebé Doyer, Walker Buehler (1-0, 1.80 ERA), quien se estrenó en Grandes Ligas demostrando lo que se espera de su talento, mientras que el responsable de la lomita por los Padres será Joey Lucchesi (3-1, 2.78 ERA).

Me despido, agradecida con mis cuñados de SoSG por invitarme a escribir la introducción para el juego de hoy. Les dejo con buena música proveniente de Monterrey: Plastilina Mosh con “Mr. P Mosh”

*Imagen: Plastilina Mosh