Series Thread (Games 30-32): May 1-3 vs. Phillies

Mon 5.1 7p: Tony Gonsolin vs. Taijuan Walker
Tue 5.2 7p: TBD vs. Matt Strahm
Wed 5.3 1p: TBD vs. Aaron Nola

The 2022 National League Champion Phillies are only 15-13, basically the same record as the Dodgers (16-13). Except they sit in fourth place in their division (only ahead of the lowly Washington Nationals), while the Dodgers share first place with Arizona. There's upside for the Phillies on the near-term horizon, though, with Bryce Harper potentially being reinstated for this series in Los Angeles, as early as Tuesday. That's always dangerous for Phillies opponents...not to mention opponents' stadium walls.

UPDATE 3.07p: Harper has been cleared to play starting Tuesday, which would be 160 days since his Tommy John surgery. Amazing! And welcome back, Bryce Harper!

For the Dodgers, that weekend sweep over the Cardinals to start off this homestand was pretty sweet indeed--as was seeing Will Smith and Max Muncy return to the lineup, not to mention only the second multi-hit game for Chris Taylor all year. Our bullpen (and timely defense) held the Cardinals bats at bay during high-leverage situations in all three games. Three more games to go on this homestand, before a well-deserved day off!

Oh, and I'll be at the Stadium on Monday night, so hit me up if you want to say hi.

Dodgers Do Not Sign That Big-Name Outfielder We've Been Coveting All Off-Season

Bryce Harper agrees to terms with the Phillies. 13 years, $330M.

Oh, well.

I guess all we have is this memory.

5 Burning Questions Ow It Burns Make It Stop

Congratulations @RedSox Well played and deserved. We’ll see you next season.

— Sons of Steve Garvey (@sosgsosg) October 29, 2018

I did not tweet this tweet. Maybe we got hacked.

It's the return of Five Things! (That means something to like two of you out there.)

1. Kersh: In or out? Obviously he can make more than $65 million for two years so he'll opt out, but will he re-sign with us and stay competitive or sign with his hometown Rangers and enjoy the second half of his career closer to home? The first domino falls soon.

2. Harper? First of all, Goodbye Felicia/Manny. Secondly, do we break the bank for Harper? Does the front office think he'll fit their newfangled homer-only adjust-never approach? If we land Harper, who goes? Does Joc and/or Puig become trade bait? Remember we owe Kemp $21.5M next year.

3. Catcher issues. Grandal leads the free-agent catcher class with his 24 regular-season HRs and supposedly legendary framing skills. The Dodgers are unlikely to dish out for offense they already have and his butterfinger defense, but then who becomes the everyday catcher? Barnes? The minor-league guys are still years away so this one is a head-scratcher. Maybe a trade?

4. How to fix the bullpen. Once Kenley gets his heart surgery, will he return to the Kenley of old? Can we go Baez in the 8th to Kenley in the 9th and just figure out the post-starter bridge guys? Remember the Dodgers owe Jansen $56M over the next three years so he isn't going anywhere.

5. Forget small ball. It's big ball now. Somewhere along the line the front office decided to mash at all costs. Will they decide this year's results were worth it? Was NLCS Game 5 just a fluke? Will Justin Turner remain the only guy who excels at situational hitting?

OK that was more than five questions but you get the idea. This team needs to make some decisions.

Bryce Harper Not Impressed With This Greinke Guy

Clear out some space on the locker room bulletin board: Bryce Harper says Zack Greinke's shutdown performance Sunday was umpire-aided, and that Greinke isn't so tough:

Bryce Harper looked to let the air out of Zack Greinke's sails Sunday amid his historic run of scoreless innings, saying he wasn't as impressed as most due to the help the right-hander got from the plate umpire.

Harper, seemingly frustrated over Bill Miller's strike zone in the Washington Nationals' 5-0 loss to the streaking Greinke and Los Angeles Dodgers, asserted "when you're getting 6 inches off the plate, it's tough to face him."

"For me, I don't think he was very tough," Harper said, according to The Washington Post. "He's a great pitcher. He does what he does."

In doing what he does Sunday, Greinke held the Nationals to three hits in eight innings, struck out a season-high 11 and extended his scoreless innings streak to 43⅔. He also improved to 9-2 with an MLB-best 1.30 ERA.

His scoreless innings string is the longest in the majors since Orel Hershiser set the major league record of 59 shutout innings in 1988 with the Dodgers.

Harper later amended his comments, calling Greinke "a damn good pitcher."

Look, I know Harper isn't a big fan of the Dodgers, or more specifically, of Dodger Stadium (see below). But I want to be a fan of Harper. 0-for-2 with 2 Ks and a walk (against Greinke) isn't bad, Bryce! Can't you rise above this and just move on?

Post-Game 92 Thread: Gunslinger's Revenge

Is that David Bowie in the center? Wow, this looks like a horrible movie.

DODGERS 4, NATIONALS 2

Nothin' like a little revenge from your gunslinging ace, which is what the Dodgers brought today after losing a suspended game heartbreaker just prior. Yasiel Puig did most of the offensive damage, going 2-for-4 with 2 RBI, including a single off of Dog Fister in the first and another in the fifth that just beat Clint Robinson's throw from left field. Justin Turner continued his torrid hitting with a 3-for-5, RBI day; Andre Ethier also added a sacrifice fly.

Things looked shaky in the ninth when the Dodgers led off with two singles and couldn't score an insurance run; and then Kenley Jansen relieved Clayton Kershaw, and gave up a 2-run HR to Bryce Harper before settling down and striking out the last two batters (Jansen struck out the side). But it was Kershaw who was the true ace today: 8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB and 14 Ks. No Washington batter advanced beyond second base in Kershaw's innings. 14 strikeouts!

Tomorrow is a huge showdown: Greinke vs. Scherzer. Here we go, boys and girls!

Post-Game 140 Thread: A Kick To The Nuts

NATIONALS 8, DODGERS 5 (14)

There are PGTs that cause us Sons of Steve Garvey to skirmish and squabble in the staff room, descending into cage matches to determine which Son gets to pen the day's journal entry.

This was not one of those PGTs.

In fact, this loss was so painful, none of us Sons wanted to touch it with a ten-foot pole. 14 innings of back and forth ball looked like they were heading the Dodgers' way: a game-extending run by Justin Turner in the bottom of the ninth off of a Jayson Werth fielding error in right field; and a Carl Crawford HR in the bottom of the 12th to tie the game at 5-5. But three Nationals runs in the top of the 14th were just too much to overcome. In a boxing match with two division-leading pugilists, Washington got the knockout punch in the final round, and the Dodgers were down and out.

Crawford and Turner each had three hits; Dee Gordon and Yasiel Puig had two hits each. But the Dodgers went 2-for-9 with RISP and left 12 on base, wasting a nice effort from Carlos Frias (6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB and 4 Ks). Kenley Jansen's bid for a four-out save went haywire when he came back out for the ninth, with Bryce Harper singling, Adam LaRoche with a two-run HR, and Denard Span singling in a third run to make it 3-2 Washington. Yes, the Dodgers answered in the bottom of the ninth when Werth fumbled a fly ball in right field, but letting the Nationals back into the game in the ninth was a dangerous play.

We may end up seeing the Nationals again, should we hold on for the post-season. After dropping the rubber match in this fashion, I'm pretty concerned.

Post-Game 139 Thread: Kershaw: Automatic For The (Dodger) People

DODGERS 4, NATIONALS 1

There's nothing like a little Clayton Kershaw on your squad to calm those playoff-race nerves. Nationals starter Doug Fister tried to hold on, with four scoreless frames to start the game. But when Fister left the game in the sixth having given up four runs to the Dodgers, the loss was all but etched in stone. Juan Uribe's sixth-inning, two-run shot to left (scoring Carl Crawford) was the last chisel point in said stone, with the Dodgers leading 4-0.

And Kershaw was still dealing. His line: 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 Ks--good enough for his major-league-leading 17th win. Kenley Jansen struck out the side in the ninth for the save.

Besides the Uribe HR, Adrian Gonzalez got an RBI on an infield single to shortstop, which scored Clayton Kershaw from third as well as Dee Gordon from second; Gordon was rounding third when Ian Desmond fielded the ball, and Desmond tried to lob one home that sailed over the head of the Nationals' catcher, for an error.

But four runs is more than enough margin for Kershaw, who is about as automatic as one could imagine. Bryce Harper got a solo HR off of Kershaw in the seventh, but struck out to end the game (see below screenshot from mlb.com GameDay):

No whey protein Gatorade bars for me, then.

Lead stays at two games.

Pacific Grim

Yasiel Puig bounces off the outfield wall in the seventh inning of last night's game. He stayed in the game.

May 13: Bryce Harper does the same. He's been on the disabled list since June 2.

Bryce Harper Injury Evokes Memories of Former Dodger Pete Reiser

Given the kind of people that hang out at our crazy blog, I had to post Buster Olney's analogy of Bryce Harper, injured last night at Dodger Stadium running into the outfield wall, to former Dodger Pete Reiser (link insider only):

Harper is one of the best young players we have ever seen, and his habit of going all out all the time is why he’s fun to watch -- and why the Nationals should be concerned, and probably already are.

If you read accounts of baseball from the last years just before World War II, the young players who were the Harper and Mike Trout of their time were Ted Williams and a Dodgers outfielder named Pete Reiser. Williams is in the discussion as the greatest hitter of all time; Reiser is mostly unknown to history, other than as a cautionary tale.

Reiser played in 58 games in his first season with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1940 at age 21, and the next summer, he won the National League batting title, hitting .343 with 70 extra-base hits; he led the NL in runs scored with 117, and he finished second in the MVP voting. Leo Durocher was Reiser’s first manager and, years later, was the first manager for Willie Mays. Durocher would speak of them, in so many words, as equals in their talent. "Mays had everything,” Durocher said. “Pete Reiser had everything but luck."

But much of Reiser’s luck was self-inflicted, because he had a tendency to run into outfield walls, in a seeming attempt to run through them in pursuit of the baseball. (He once fractured his skull running into the wall.) This was an admirable trait in some respects, because his effort was always at a maximum level. At the same time, the crazed pursuit of excellence essentially wrecked his career.

Mays didn’t run into fences in the way that Reiser did, nor did Williams or Joe DiMaggio. They’re all in the Hall of Fame. Reiser is not.

Earlier this year, Nationals manager Davey Johnson talked about the need for Harper to take down his intensity a notch or two, and the type of play we saw in Monday’s game is exactly what Johnson is talking about. It’s one thing to go full speed on every ground ball, to go first to third with all the zeal of a strong safety rushing to blast the running back coming through the hole. But it’s another thing to attack every play, regardless of the situation and the place on the field, as though making that catch is pivotal. Because not every play and situation is the same, and is worthy of reckless effort. At the moment that Harper barreled into the wall, the Nationals had a 6-0 lead in the fifth inning, with the game under complete control.

Post-Game 37 Thread: Short Streak

NATIONALS 6, DODGERS 2

If you had to isolate one inning tonight which summarized the Dodgers' 2013 season to date, it would have been the fourth inning in tonight's "contest" (and I use that loosely). Josh Beckett had labored through three slow innings, yielding a 4-0 lead to the Nationals through three. Don Mattingly had seen enough and called for reliever Javy Guerra before Beckett could take the seven minutes to throw his 69th pitch. Guerra, who ended up struggling in his second inning of work, actually had a clean fourth inning: three up, three down.

Enter Dee Gordon, who had absurdly tried to bunt his way on to first in the first inning, only to be thrown out 5-3 by at least a step (even with Gordon's speed, the bunt was so bad, he was nailed by a wide margin). This time, in the fourth inning, Gordon swings and lines to center for a single (subtle hint, Dee: STOP BUNTING). With Adrian Gonzalez batting, Gordon steals second and advances to third on the throwing error.

Gonzalez pops out to second baseman Danny Espinosa, whose run into the outfield was such that his back was turned to the plate. Gordon is fast, right? Surely he could score from third after tagging, with the fielder's back turned, right?

Nope. Gordon stood there, a baserunning gaffe which became costly when Matt Kemp proceeded to strike out and Andre Ethier grounded to first. The Dodgers had a man on third with none out, and couldn't score. What more do you need to hear?

Nine hits for the Dodgers and they plated two (only one of which, a Kemp single to left, occurred without costing an out). Ten hits for the Nationals and they plated six (the Dodgers' two errors didn't help any). The Nationals' only scare during this game was a brutal collision between Bryce Harper and the rightfield wall, which was won by the latter (get well soon, Bryce!).

The two-game winning streak is over. And it sure smells like shit.

At-Game Recap: April 28 vs. Nationals

Is Matt Kemp carrying this team? Yes.

@TheRealMattKemp gives some love to his @dodger27mom.

Bryce Harper takes the field for the first time as a major leaguer.

Stephen Strasburg's first pitch of the night.

Alcohol may have been involved.

More photos after the jump!

Game 21 Thread: April 28 vs. Nats, 6p

Chad Billingsley (2-1, 3.04) vs. Stephen Strasburg (2-0, 1.08).

Rev up the hype machine! Sons Dusty, Sax and yours truly and reader John G will be in the house to check out the major-league debut of the first pick of the 2010 draft, 19-year old Bryce Harper. Mr. Eyeblack, who signed a five-year, $9.9-million contract, is the most hyped prospect since, well, starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg. The 23-year-old Strasburg, the first pick of the 2009 draft, signed a four-year, $15.1 contract and has already undergone Tommy John surgery in his young career. Is he back on track for greatness? Will Harper live up to the hype? The Dodgers will find out tonight.

Reviewing Publishing: The Bryce Harper Call Lens

Pundits over at ESPN are saying that the Nationals' call-up of Bryce Harper tonight may have been premature (link insider only). First, Keith Law:

Forgive me if I'm picturing Washington Nationals GM Mike Rizzo making the call to Syracuse to recall Bryce Harper while sitting in his chair and staring down the barrel of a gun held by the team's VP of sales.

Harper has hit a combined .254/.330/.388, including a .174/.216/.275 line against lefties, across two levels above low-A (he also recorded four walks and 19 strikeouts against left-handed pitching in Double-A and Triple-A), and while his performance against right-handers at those levels is more than adequate for a player who's as old as your typical college freshman, it doesn't give us any reason to expect immediate success in the majors.

Harper made a lot of progress over the course of 2011, but in the Arizona Fall League his weakness against off-speed stuff was still evident, even if it was less than it was the year before. We have no evidence, statistical or otherwise, this spring to indicate that he's made those adjustments enough to be ready to produce in the majors. He will eventually do so -- of this I have little doubt -- but he had shown that Triple-A was a sufficient challenge for him, and there's no reason to recall him until he succeeds at that level.

This looks to me like a panic move, a reaction to modest attendance figures for the Nats despite their hot start this year, rather than a well thought-out developmental plan, as we've seen the club employ for most of its other prospects. Contrast their adamant statements about keeping Stephen Strasburg on an innings limit in his first full year back from Tommy John surgery with this seemingly unplanned promotion before Harper can even reach 90 at-bats in Triple-A.

And here's Dan Szymborski (also insider only):

Harper's professional debut went as well as could be expected as he hit .318/.423/.554 for the Hagerstown Suns. That's full-season A-ball, but it's still just A-ball and his performance for the Double-A Harrisburg Senators, a .256/.329/.395 line in 147 PA, was mostly impressive because of his extremely young age. Harper's performance for Syracuse this year, a .250/.333/.375 line in the early going, at least suggests -- with all the caveats of small sample sizes -- that he's not at the point right now where he's terrorizing Triple-A pitchers.

Spring training statistics are notoriously hard to use, but in this particular case, with such limited data available, it's at least worth noting that his spring performance -- a .690 OPS in 28 at-bats with 11 strikeouts -- doesn't actually scream that he's ready now. The ZiPS projection system loves Harper in 2014 and beyond and sees him developing into a major star, but for 2012, it only seems him as a .238/.317/.405 hitter, which isn't out of line with his performances in the high minors so far.

Even if Harper's only a .700 OPS hitter or right now, that's probably better than Roger Bernardina or Rick Ankiel, but given his hype, inevitably some people will think of it as a major disappointment. That would be a mistake as lots of players that have been promoted aggressively struggle initially -- in fact, one could argue that a little dose of adversity could be a good thing for a player with such effortless talent.

Mike Trout was promoted aggressively as well and after a solid, but slightly underwhelming debut, is hitting .400 for Salt Lake and his star shines just as brightly. Andruw Jones and Cesar Cedeno both improved rapidly after mixed reviews in the majors, both star outfielders that debuted at 19. Justin Upton hit .221/.283/.364 at 19, but was still a legitimate MVP candidate by 23. Another outfielder you may have heard of, one Willie Howard Mays, started his major league career going 1-for-26 and he turned out to be OK.

The Nats will give Harper plenty of playing time -- they're not going to call him up to sit on the bench -- but what we're going to be seeing in the next weeks is probably going to be the appetizer, not the main course. Whether a Washington Nationals fan, a Harper fantasy owner, or just a plain ol' fan of baseball, enjoy his debut, but temper your expectations.

Whatever. I'm still very excited to see Harper's debut tonight. And I do hope he loses in his major league debut. Go Dodgers!

Saturday's Game Just Got Even More Intriguing

Stephen Strasburg will start for the Nats on Saturday, by the way, the day Bryce Harper will debut.

— Adam Kilgore (@AdamKilgoreWP) April 27, 2012

UPDATE 2:59p (Sax): ESPN story.

Another Dream Team in Florida?

From "Guillen departure ends South Side madness, brings South Beach jolt" by Jon Heyman at SI.com:

The Marlins are about to have the big-name marketable manager they have craved as they head into their new stadium. The White Sox are rid of their headache.

Ozzie Guillen will become the face (not to mention the mouth) of the Marlins as soon as their deal to hire him is completed. The White Sox, surely growing weary of Guillen's continuing public protestations about his contract situation and inability to get along with White Sox GM Ken Williams, announced it had allowed Guillen out of his contract Monday, and are expected to receive minor players in compensation from the Marlins once they sign him.

The Marlins desperately wanted a marquee man to manage their team, one that can help market their revenue-challenged team. And Ozzie should be perfect for that. He's funny in two languages. And now, he is about to become the star of the South Florida show, which is what the Golden Beach, Fla., resident wanted all along.

So the NL East just got a little more obnoxious. What if the Marlins make a run at Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder, as has been speculated? And if Bryce Harper joins Stephen Strasburg on the Nationals, that division could really grab a lot of headlines in 2012. And that's before the Mets' ownership situation gets resolved.

Grace

Maybe it was Sax's reflective piece on aging that kicked it off, but last week in the baseball world felt like a positive sign for us summer chickens. Why? Let's meet our cast of characters:

GARRET ANDERSON (age 38). There's not a lot of love for GA in these parts: He's routinely referred to as "GAARP" in our Game Threads, and some actually bemoaned that his game-winning hit last week might extend his Dodgers tenure. It's good thing he doesn't listen to us.

While Xavier Paul (age 25) gets his regular ABs in Albuquerque, it looks like we're stuck with GAARP. I'm not hopeful that GA has more walk-off hits left in him (although he had an RBI-double last night), but it was nice to see him show a sign of aging gracefully. Even if it took him 88 plate appearances to do it.

ARMANDO GALARRAGA (age 28). The perfecto by Dallas Braden (age 26) was heartwarming, but the imperfecto by Galarraga resonates more. Who can't relate to imperfection? Some context, from Joe Posnanski:

Nothing has ever come easily for Armando Galarraga. He signed with the Montreal Expos when he was 16 years old. He did not get out of rookie ball until he was 21. Texas got him as a throw-in when they traded Alfonso Soriano to Washington. He made one start for the Rangers and did not get out of the fifth inning. He was traded to Detroit for a minor leaguer named Michael Hernandez.

And he went ahead and retired the 28th batter like nothing had happened. Of course, he was rewarded in other ways: a new car, calls for an automatic All-Star berth (can you imagine the applause?).

But it was that smile that got you. How many of us would have just completely lost our shit in that situation? Galarraga's immediate reaction — the one he couldn't plan — tells us everything we need to know. His forgiveness afterward? Pure grace.

JIM JOYCE (age 54). Made a mistake. Admitted he made a mistake. Faced the press afterward. Made no excuses. "It was the biggest call of my career and I kicked the shit out of it," he said. Apologized for the mistake. Had to explain the mistake to his mom.

Furthermore, fulfilled his original commitment to work behind the plate in the next game — a day game following a night game, naturally. Wasn't afraid to show emotion in front of what could have been a hostile crowd. Who would you rather have calling the Dodgers game, Jim Joyce or "Cowboy" Joe West? His call may have been botched, but Joyce's stand-up attitude contained a grace of its own.

BRYCE HARPER (age 17). Who hasn't made an ass of themselves at 17? But when you're virtually guaranteed to be the first pick in the First-Year Player Draft (the Nationals picked Harper with their first pick yesterday) and due at least $10 million as a result, your actions — like drawing a line in the dirt with your bat to show up an umpire — become magnified.

Already dogged by accusations of character issues, Harper ended up getting suspended from the Junior College World Series, and his team exited the tournament shortly thereafter. He's on his way to becoming a lot richer, but he still needs to learn some grace.

JOHN WOODEN (died at lived to 99). Not directly part of the baseball world, but very much part of sports and Los Angeles. He was a genius who hated being called a wizard, but it was his devotion to his late wife that transcended grace.

A.J. ELLIS (age 29). The Dodgers' latest walk-off hero. And he had a squeeze bunt in last night's game. Expectations: 0, Ellis: 2.

So score one for the old(ish) guys. Sometimes, just sometimes, life experience is given its due. Or at least a red Corvette.

Monday Notes, Highly Anticipatory Edition

• Have you seen the iPhone 4 specs? Geekgasm! iPhone 4: The Definitive Guide (Gizmodo)
• MLB's First-Year Player Draft starts at 4 p.m. PT today. The Nationals will pick Bryce Harper first. After that, who knows? Draft Preview: LA historically likes HS arms (Ken Gurnick, Dodgers.com)
• Casey Blake is getting better. Improving Blake may sidestep DL trip (Dodgers.com)
• George Sherrill is getting better. Dodgers encouraged by Sherrill's progress (Dodgers.com)