Mailbag Monday: How much longer for Muncy and Conforto?
Answering your questions!
Happy Memorial Day, everyone! Hopefully all of you are having a great day.
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OhioDodgers — How much longer do we have to endure Conforto and Muncy??
I think Muncy is going to make it the entire season. I know it seems like he’s been terrible, but he does own a 96 wRC+ this season, which is just below a league average hitter. That’s also while barely hitting any homers. Once Muncy starts hitting for some power, his value at the plate will increase.
With Conforto, I think he has until the trade deadline. That is still two months away. If he hasn’t figured it out in two months, I could see the Dodgers pulling the plug and trading for another outfielder. To be honest, they don’t even really need to trade for an outfielder. They could simply put Edman in center and shift Pages over to left field. Then you have a platoon of Kim, Enrique and Rojas at second/third base.
The Dodgers gave this guy $17 million, I don’t blame them for giving him as long of a rope as possible with the hope he can turn things around.
LifesEZ — When are the pitchers going to start returning? I’m tired of not being able to complain about Roberts use of the pitching staff because he has a good excuse right now. I am about to burst inside.
I feel your pain! As of right now, the only pitcher who seems close to returning is Michael Kopech. He should be back by next weekend. I think he may be the only pitcher that is currently on the IL who will return before July. Aside from him, your guess is as good as mine as to when we can see any of our arms returning.
I don’t even know who the next pitcher to return will be. Ohtani is the only one throwing to hitters currently, and he’s still two months away. All the other guys on the IL are either not throwing, or they just started throwing a baseball.
Marilyn Fisher — How much of a leash does Rushing have before they think about bringing up Hunter? He seems lost at the plate right now.
Barring an injury, I think Rushing is here to stay for good. I don’t think they’ll send him down at any point. They released Barnes to give Rushing a chance. He’s their top prospect and I think they’re going to ride it out with him. He’s a much better hitter than Feduccia, who is a great piece to have as a third catcher down in the minors. Unless Rushing has an 0-for-30 stretch, I don’t think they’ll contemplate sending him down.
Stan B — Hey Blake. There's something that makes ZERO sense to me. Last year, Kiké couldn't hit his weight, is in a terrible slump, and goes to see an eye doctor, who diagnoses an astigmatism. He's prescribed glasses, and BOOM, he's hitting the ball again, and we all saw what he did in the postseason. This year, same thing with Max Muncy. Horrible slump. Eye doctor. Glasses. He's hitting the ball hard again. HOW is it possible that when the players arrive at Spring Training, when they're getting their physical, they are not having an eye doctor check their eyes? The Dodgers are making millions of dollars in investments in these athletes, so why would an eye check not be MANDATORY?
I had a very similar question a few weeks back — I don’t get it! We now have two examples of players getting their eyes checked and like you said, BOOM! All of a sudden they’re much better at the plate. I’m sure a lot of players have great vision and are fine, but would it hurt if every player got checked? So far we’re 2-for-2 on this experiment. Mookie might need a visit to get his eyes checked!
J. Zura — Thanks for doing these Blake.
Do you think with more games under his belt Kershaw will locate the zone better on his breaking stuff? Or is there something else about his mechanics that suggest his ‘flow’ is off.
What do you think of the missed or non-call at 3rd base by same 3rd base ump? It seemed that this crew was off all game after they came back after the rain delay.
What’s some of the weirdest stats from 60mins or more rain delay (not rescheduled).?
I know you don't have space to answer all of these. I broke then up so it'd be easier. By All-Star Break do you expect the front office to either be in talks for front line trade.
I think as the games add up Kershaw will continue to look better. Although his first start was rough, I didn’t think he looked THAT bad. He just had some really bad luck. Then in his second start he got through two innings really quickly, but a rain delay ended his outing. I think he’ll get better with each outing and he’ll look like the Kershaw of old in no time.
I still can’t believe those calls from Friday night. The “obstruction” from Muncy was ridiculous and it seems like every player + person involved in baseball has said the same thing.
I do think the Dodgers may be active at the trade deadline. I know Friedman said he was aggressive this offseason to avoid making any trades, but he may be forced to. I know the Dodgers have reinforcements coming, but do they? Can we trust Glasnow, Snell and Sasaki to return and be healthy? If July gets here and there are still question marks, I think the Dodgers will have to make a move of some kind.
A reader on LA dodger talk suggested we trade for oriel center fielder Mullins I think that's a bad idea because it would block Sarota.
Kinda bummed Kim has been relegated to late-inning duty. Wasn’t he hitting .400? Mix him in the starting lineup!