MidValleySports.Com

By Those Deferred BenchWarmers

Who would have thought that the Chicago White Sox visiting LA would be one of the most intriguing series of the season? Kershaw’s 30000 K, Muncy’s injury, dominant performances from Yamamoto and May…

The Week in Review
Headline for the Week: Dodgers Dominate White Sox

Results: The Dodgers Swept the White Sox at Dodger stadium, outsourcing the Sox 17-7.

Pitching Analysis: We could rehash Kershaw 3000th K, but if you’re like us, you’ve probably read a lot about it and watched a lot about it, so we’ll point out the damper the events surrounding the K was: Kershaw gave up 9 hits (although he was overthrowing a bit), Muncy got injured a couple pitches before, and the highlights of the K will always show the Dodgers losing to the hapless White Sox 4-2 when it happened. Yet, even still, it was an amazing moment. If you haven’t seen the White Sox Broadcast of the strikeout, do yourself a favor and go check it out; it’s a great call by their booth!

Yoshinobu Yamamoto was his usual self in game one, pitching seven innings of one-run baseball, striking out 8 and only allowing 3 hits (he also had run support). Dustin May got into the act, also going seven strong innings and striking out 9. May was perfect through 5 and third innings.

The Dodger bullpen was superb this series: 7 no hit innings, with 12 strikeouts and only three walks.

Hitting Analysis: The Narrative was ruined right away in the first inning of game 1. The Dodgers worked back-to-back two out walks, then the Dodger Outfield did the damage: Tesocar Hernandez singled in one, Andy Pages doubled in two, and Michael Conforto singled in a fourth run to give the Dodgers, and Yamamoto, a four run lead. It was only the third time the Dodgers had scored four runs with Yamamoto on the mound (A’s and Guardians) and only the second time that Yamamoto had a four run lead in any start this season (6-1 and 6-2 against the Guardians on May 26th).

We thought it was possible that Freddie Freeman was back on track in game 2. The Dodgers had moved him around the line up a bit and, hitting cleanup in game 2, Freeman went 2 for 5, including the walkoff single. The thoughts were confirmed on Thursday with Freeman back in his usual number 3 slot. Freeman was 2 for 4 with 3 RBI. Mookie Betts homered for the first time since June 8, hopefully a sign of more good things to come.

Takeaway for the Week / Burning Question (And Attempted Answer): Right before Kershaw’s 3000th, Will Smith threw out potential base steal Michael Taylor at third base. Muncy made a great catch and tag, but unfortunately Taylor slid into Muncy’s leg, forcing Muncy’s knee to bend awkwardly. The optimism after the game from the Dodgers, was seemingly confirmed by the fact that a six-week timetable was given out for a potential Muncy return. But the team notoriously downplays injuries.

Our hot take/conspiracy theory? Muncy is out for the season and the Dodgers are playing it close to the vest so they do not come off as desperate for a 3B at the deadline.

Admittedly, our theory would hold more weight if there were better candidates at the hot corner: Here are the potential candidate , ranked by likelihood of being a Dodger (based purely on our gut on July 3):

1–Nolan Arenado, St. Louis
2–Yoan Moncada, Anaheim
Ramon Urias, Baltimore
3–Ryan McMahon, Colorado
4–Alex Bregman, Boston
5–Eugenio Suarez, Arizona

The list is not enticing. Dodger fans have wanted Arenado for a long time, so he is the most intriguing (with Bregman right behind him). The issue becomes: are these players better than the Dodger Platoon of Kiké/Rojas/Whoever else/Freeland(?)/Kim(?)/Edman(?). We’d say no.

The other issue is 3 of the teams are relative rivals with the Dodgers (Two NL West partners and a regional partner), so the likelihood of them trading is low. Would the Red Sox take part in another blockbuster with the Dodgers after the Dodgers fleeced them the last two times? That leaves Arenado and Urias (who isn’t that enticing).

So, it must mean there’s a mystery candidate the Dodgers are going after… or Muncy will be back in mid-August.

Next Series’ Preview
Matchups: The Trashtros come to LA.

Analysis: Since May 21, the Astros have won 10 of 12 series, with the other 2 series being 4 games splits. They currently have a stranglehold on the AL West and are within striking distance of the best record in the majors.

What to Look For: Many of the players are gone, but the Trashtros will always be the Trashtros and it’ll be hard to separate the new players with the old sins of the franchise. To speed up the process, we recommend the Trashtros either go back to their old mid 90s-early 2000s color scheme and logo, or even their 60s-early 90s look (although the colors might be too close to their current ones). Really, we’d love a return of the Colt 45s, but that might be a pipe dream.