Game 89 Thread: July 4 vs Cheaters, 6p

Ben Casparius vs Lance McCullers.

I still hate the Astros.

Game 69 Thread: June 11 @ Padres, 1p

Ben Casparius (4-1, 2.93) vs. Randy Vasquez (3-4, 3.69).

We shouldn't be reading too much into this first series with the Padres, right? I mean, the fact that we're doing two bullpen games in the three matches shouldn't concern us about getting absolutely shellacked last night 11-1? And we still have a chance to win the series with a victory this afternoon, even though we're starting Ben Casparius, for only the second time this season?

Casparius has been great this season (0.7 WAR; 133 ERA+), but...do we really have a shot here?

(cries)

Game 35 Thread: May 5 @ Marlins, 3.40p

Hat tip to SoSG Orel for this nickname

Ben Casparius (3-0, 2.91) vs. Sandy Alcantara (2-3, 8.31).

Sany Alcantara won the Cy Young Award in 2022 and has been a solid pitcher...until this year, where something is definitely off. The Dodgers knocked him around last week (7 ER, 2.2 IP) to boost his ERA to 8.31. In that April 29 game, Jack Dreyer started for the Dodgers, and Matt Sauer got the victory after pitching five innings of one-run ball. Let's see if Ben Casparius can hold his own as well!

ESPN's Doolittle Ranks Dodgers' Starting Rotation Fourth In Majors

ESPN's Bradford Doolittle had the Dodgers currently sitting at #4 among MLB teams, with still a lot of time left in the offseason for some additional pickups (namely, Roki Sasaki). The Dodgers' ranking is behind the Mariners, Phillies, and Braves. But note that Clayton Kershaw is not mentioned at all:

Los Angeles Dodgers:

Rotation index: 110.5
Ranks -- Stars: 3 | Depth: 13 | Length: 11 | Dominance: 2

Top 6: 1. Blake Snell (Rating: 121), 2. Yoshinobu Yamamoto (115), 3. Tyler Glasnow (124), 4. Shohei Ohtani (119), 5. Tony Gonsolin (96), 6. Dustin May (103)

We went with Gonsolin and May at the bottom of the Dodgers' six-man rotation, though others -- Landon Knack, Ben Casparius, Bobby Miller -- could figure into the mix.

This is probably also a good place to highlight the possible impact of Sasaki, who could propel the Dodgers near the top of these rankings, or boost the fortunes of one of the teams below. The possibility is why the term "an embarrassment of riches" was invented.

2024 World Series Game 4 Thread

Undisputed:
Ice Cube > Fat Joe

Ben Casparius vs. Luis Gil, 5p.

Can the Dodgers actually win this 2024 World Series? Now up 3-0 in the best-of-seven series, and with a 94.7% chance of winning the series (albeit, only a 43% chance of winning Game 4, according to FanGraphs ZiPS projections)...I'm finally starting to believe, just a little bit?

I mean, if Freddie Freeman, who is building a great case for the 2024 World Series MVP, can keep mashing home runs each game, like he did in Game 3 to completely silence the Yankees crowd (who were cursing epithets at him at the time):

And if Mookie Betts--now batting .291 with 14 RBI in the 2024 postseason--can keep adding runs on the board:

And if the Yankees keep trying to get on the board by sending Giancarlo Stanton from second base on a single, when Stanton's speed ranks 549th out of 566 MLB players:

I almost feel bad for Stanton on that one, he was dead to rights by the time he rounded third base. And check out Will Smith's reaction (and do your own lip reading!) on this amazing field view:

Sure, Shohei Ohtani isn't hitting and has a bum shoulder; Will Smith isn't hitting and who knows what the hell is wrong with him; and Max Muncy is back on one of those bad offensive streaks again. It's not all good in Dodgerville.

But so far this World Series, we've played pretty good defense at all positions, the bullpen has been incredible in all sorrts of weird situations, our starters have outpitched the Yankees' formidable starting rotation, and Dave Roberts is making all the right calls.

And I know we've been successful with bullpen games...but we're starting Ben Casparius for Game 4. Casparius is making his first major league start in the World Series. This is a big stage for Big Ben!

No time to rest. We need to keep the pressure on the Yankees.

Let's do this.

LET'S GO, DODGERS!