KeithStone53151

It would strategically be in the Dodgers best interest if we tied the Rockies and had to play a playoff game. Further tax a potential opponent.

I don't think Villar could handle sporadic playing time, he's been completely ineffective in his bench role down the stretch. Maybe he'd be better coming back from a lost season, who knows. I think if we sign Walker, then someone needs to be moved so Villar can get more playing time. And it probably would mean either Thames or Villar, more likely Villar.

I read that Carpenter is for sure shut down. I also read that Molina/Wong are both less than likely to play at all. If I'm the cardinals, I for sure sit Molina unless he's for sure ready to go. Concussions are a super tricky issue and he's a staple on that team. Wong I'd be less concerned about and play him if he feels ready. Those 3 guys out helps our chances considerably. Also the Rockies have probably their 2 worst starters going against 2 high end starters for the Dodgers.

Apparently carpenter is shut down, and Wong/molina are questionable to play at all due to injury. That and the cardinals being out of contention helps our odds considerably.

I can't believe Romano is still pitching.

There you go!!!!!! Double play

I agree here. You don't mess around. Drake is 7th guy in a bullpen. Bring in Swarzek or someone more reliable. In fairness, we aren't going to win 4 straight games with Swarzak/Hader/Knebel pitching them all. At some point, other guys have to get it done. That said, Drake was a poor choice. Hughes or JEffress to try to get the double play made way more sense.

I personally hope it's Jeffress or Hughes here. Need a ground ball in a big way.

I have to assume it's drake for just one hitter here right?

Keep it rolling. No lead is safe against this offense...

If we can get something going against this guy and boost up that pitch count, we could chase him this inning.

Come on Suter, find a way out of this jam!

Hamilton with a triple. I know it says single, just give it a minute.

Suter cruising. 33 pitches in 3 clean innings.

I feel like this part of the order coming up is that part that's going to make runs happen. Here's hoping

Reds pitcher threw 7 fastballs to Sogard, only 3 found the zone. Classic Sogard atbat, leadoff walk. Let's go offense!

If the Indians win tomorrow as well, the Dodgers would be inclined to play a full allotment of starters for at least the first 2 games of the series. The Dodgers winning the first 2 would seal it regardless of what the Indians do, but then who knows for that 3rd game. That said, the Dodgers have a very talented bench that could very well beat the Rockies in that 3rd game. Even throwing Maeda or Wood up there that 3rd game would be a tough customer for Rockies hitters.

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/a-long-weekend-of-instructional-league-notes/ Notes on Houser and Hiura.

Walker plays both 1b and 3b, fyi. Signing Walker and making no other roster moves is going to seriously hurt our chances of getting Villar back on track and getting his value back.

Ideally, the Crew has both. If Villar returns to 2016 form, and Walker stays - awesome. If Walker stays, but Villar is closer to 2017 than 2016, hey, not bad. If Villar returns and Walker gets big buck, not bad, either. But if Walker stays and Villar returns to 2016... heck, if Arcia can't get his OPS higher than .730, you can always move Villar to short, play Walker at second, and you gain 96 points of OPS at short and Walker will add 10 points over Villar's 2016 numbers at second while Arcia can work on getting the OPS up. You won't get Walker and 2016 villar, either one or the other. You won't be able to get both regular at bats to keep their production at a high level.

I like this lineup today. Something about having Sogard leading off.

ERA over the last 3 games for each of the Rockies starters for the first 2 games. 8.10 and 5.52. Same stats for the Dodgers guys, 1.38 and 2.70.

A cardinals loss today would eliminate them from contention, giving them absolutely nothing to play for(except a draft pick). Win today, cardinals lose today. Cardinals lay down for us while Dodgers prepare for the post season and grind out for the best record in baseball.

Walker alone should get more than what Garza makes this year. I think people are underestimating his market for years and dollars. If he's willing to stick around for 2/25, great. Otherwise, I'd pass. I'm more hopeful on bringing back Swarzek, but no idea really on his market. 2/12? This isn't going to be a real popular opinion, but I think 2018 may be a bit of a transitional season. There's just too many factors working against us, particularly with the Nelson injury. Most of our top arms in the minors look more like 2019 or later help than 2018, and I don't expect Brinson to be a huge factor next year. So all in all, I don't expect them to go back into rebuilding mode, but I could see a bit of a step back to the 75-80 win range. Then with some top arms emerging and Nelson (hopefully) returning to full strength, 2019 may really be when our window starts to open. They may choose to be rather aggressive in the off-season with signs and trades to try to keep that from happening, and that's fine, but I hope they don't get too aggressive with trading away farm pieces to do it. I agree that's a route we COULD go. We could retool a couple pieces and give more young guys opportunities. I think it's more likely that we spend some money on 2-3 year deals for significant bullpen pieces, make a play for a high-end SP, make the obvious move with our OF situation(trade broxton, phillips starting with brinson at AAA briefly), and possibly try and re-sign walker depending on his price tag. If we sign walker, I would think we also trade one of Villar/Thames. Those moves along with improvement from our young players would likely net us more wins in 2018 than this year.

With us this close, I won't give up hope until we are mathematically eliminated. 7 total games left, and we need 6 to go our way. Improbable, not impossible.