AJ Ellis has gotten 38 of the 46 plate appearances for catchers in the month of September. Drew Butera has four. Tim Federowicz has four.
What does it matter? Plenty. While none of the three of them have many hits this season, AJ Ellis is the tried and true backstop that manages all of the pitching staff. He needs some rest. We can’t afford an injury to Ellis ahead of the playoffs. Also, while he doesn’t collect many hits, he has collected enough free bases this year to push his OBP (on-base percentage) to .322.
I guess it made sense to start him all three games in the all-important Dodgers-Giants series over the weekend. But now, give him a rest. I’m surprised to see him starting today in Colorado.
32and53fan
colliethec
crash24now
dodgereric
The Beav
GiveUsBackOurTeam
JhallWally
yunghitters89
trublu4ever
Outside the Dodgers 
Lineup
Gordon 2B
Puig CF
Gonzalez 1B
Kemp RF
Ramirez SS
Crawford LF
Uribe 3B
Ellis C
Fausto P
Donnie will rest all the position starters excessively except for the one position that needs it – catcher.
Donnie’s not too bright.
Savior of the 2014 playoffs for the Dodgers – Dan Haren, #3 starter. Hope he’s up to it.
What do you know about Ryu’s MRI results that I don’t know?
Just a hunch.
I second that hunch…
Two big ones… Just bring us two big ones, again this series…Boy’s…
I finally get to see some games on the Rockies TV station.
That there’s something to Root for…
Hearing Ryu will probably be MIA until playoffs…..MRI shows shoulder inflamation. Donnie will shut him down.
….now, hearing he received cortisone shot ….. so, who the hell knows?!
Eric Stephen
@truebluela
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Hyun-jin Ryu will rejoin the Dodgers in Chicago, where he will be reevaluated. After that, a submaximal throwing program.
Nobody knows, but it looms large. What’s worse than a Dan Haren as #3 pitcher is a Fausto as #4.
Well here we go.
Kemp put us out in front right away.
Someone other than Charlie needs to do the home-run call…He’s terrible at it!!
I was thinking the same thing.
Understatement of the year. He’s beyond terrible.
Hated him since his ESPN days!
LMAO, I have too, Tru…..
I thought he sucked then…
I think we will need 12 runs to win this one 🙂
Rosario ties it up.
All Dodger position players with the exception of Ellis starting in tonight’s game were hitting over .275.
The Rockies pulled a Dodger there.
AGon put us back ahead with his 104th RBI.
Dickerson ties this game at 3.
Hope they don’t ask Jamey Wright back next year.
I’d like to think that just once this team could have a big inning with the bases loaded and nobody out.
Red hot Turner comes through again and so does Gordon 6-3.
AGon makes it 8-3. Takes RBI lead.
Another Coor’ s slugfest?
We need all the runs we can get there…..9-3 now!
That’s for sure. Leads have a funny way of disappearing here.
One just hopes to survive Coors.
Hanley gives us a 6 run lead.
11-3…I like it!
I want more.
Big ones, has helped the team score
31 runs…she’s a keeper. Make that 32 runs…Thanks Charlie…🙂
Yep….the Boys love her!
🙂 🙂
Only if they’re real Tru. Only if they’re real.
I wonder if she tips over when she walks? What a balancing act she must do!
Hell with the seat cushion. I know what I’m grabbing if the plane goes down over water!
If Ryu can’t come back I sure as heck don’t want either Correia or Fausto to pitch in the playoffs…waiver-wire dumpster pick-ups who have shown little. I say start whichever kid pitches the best these next two weeks.
An Andre Ethier sighting!
Only slightly more common than bigfoot.
And with that Andre will go back in his hole until he comes out to see his shadow again.
The magic # is 10 and counting.
M# 9
Dee Gordon (2011-2014)
Hector Gimenez (2011)
Garret Anderson (2010)
Russ Mitchell (2010)
Juan Pierre (2007-2009)
Jason Phillips (2005)
Todd Hundley (1999-2003)
Marquis Grissom (2001-2002)
Mickey Hatcher (1987-1990)
Greg Brock (1983-1986)
Don Crow (1982)
Jerry Grote (1977-1981)
Gary Thomasson (1979-1980)
Leron Lee (1975-1976)
Terry McDermott (1972)
Andy Kosco (1969-1970)
Al Ferrara (1966-1968)
Wally Moon (1959-1965)
Gino Cimoli (1956-1958)
Dick Teed (1953)
Dixie Howell (1953)
Rocky Bridges (1951-1952)
Bob Ramazzotti (1949)
Arky Vaughan (1947-1948)
Jack Graham (1946)
Erv Palica (1945)
Barney White (1945)
Tommy Brown (1944-1945)
Lloyd Waner (1944)
Bill Hart (1943)
Billy Sullivan (1942)
Babe Phelps (1937-1941)
Tom Winsett (1936)
Danny Taylor (1932-1936)
What a roller coaster ride this team has been on the past two weeks.
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Roll on, roll on, roller-coaster…roll on tonight…
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Roll on tonight. Yeah…
I couldn’t help but notice Andre was a little pissed off last night after striking out…So, I’ve enlisted some bench bat, help…
Don’t worry the magic of ”two big ones” will return by game-time…
I think I’ shall name this one…bench-buns.
When surfaces in contact move relative to each other, the friction between the two surfaces converts kinetic energy into heat. This property can have dramatic consequences, as illustrated by the use of friction created when bat meets ball, such as starting, continuing or even finishing off a rally.
Woo-Hoo!!!! Nice job….. It sure is a great time for our offense to show up… I hope they are just starting to hit their stride… The bullpen was also great… If it all comes together, we’ve got a really great shot at a WS title….
I ran into this, in the comment section over at TBLA.
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A.J. Ellis talks bubble machine, Kershaw, and the rivalry with the Giants, as well as other topics…A.J. gets about 34 minutes of air-time.
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Isn’t it relaxing being 4 games up again, especially with the magic# at a single digit of 9?
Stayed up for the entire game last night, something I usually don’t do, but I don’t get to see the team that often. Plus they were kicking their ass. Not much to say about Hernandez, he wasn’t fooling anybody. Although the news about Ryu may be encouraging, I’d say it’s crucial Haren keeps his little streak going. Several media sources seem to think the Dodgers bats are heating up at the right time. The Rockies commentators were also talking up the Cubs who have been energized by the kids they have brought up.
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Last night Kemp was getting on Puig, apparently for not getting to 3rd during that big inning last night. Donnie quickly separated them and talked to Puig through the interpreter, while Kemp went into the clubhouse. Maybe I’m not the only one suffering from Puig fatigue, though it has not been so bad lately because others in the lineup are getting more attention, the ones that have been carrying the load.
Not much was said about it after the game, but from Donnie’s comments this may not have been a new thing.
Kemp is playing well enough now that he can resume his leadership position, which was more difficult when he was hurt and/or not producing well offensively. This sounds like a teachable moment.
Makes me wonder – perhaps Cuba’s teams don’t focus on teaching the basics that the U.S. minor league teams do.
If memory serves me correct…and again, I have my Ignatowsky moments… Puig stood up in the locker-room earlier in the season and asked his teammates to help him correct the things they see him doing wrong. With 12, or so, regular season games left to play and home-field advantage with-in the realms of possibilities…Props to Matt for doing what Puig asked him to do in the first place.
From what I’ve seen of this team over the years, they don’t teach the basics in our minor league system either.
Or perhaps the major league coaching staff gives it a cursory glance in Spring Training and then turns the page. I mean, their defense and focus had been questionable all year. Maybe Jimmie Johnson or Bill Parcels should be in the dugout.
Geezus…the coaching staff never even taught the players how to slide.
Wouldn’t hurt. From what I’ve seen these guys do at the ML level, so much of it they should’ve learned as far back as little league. Certainly by the time they get out of AA they should more than know the fundamentals.
This is a classic consequence of McCourt Economics. Steal from the team in places where the fans won’t notice for a while. Cut out the spending of teaching the minor leaguers how to play. Transfer the money to pay for the six mansions.
The next question is – what are the Guggenheims doing about it?
Van Slyke in for Crawford against LHP
Gordon 2B
Puig CF
Gonzalez 1B
Kemp RF
Ramirez SS
Van Slyke LF
Uribe 3B
Ellis C
Haren P
This right-handed line-up always works out so well. Maybe it’ll get lucky at Coors and actually score a few runs.
The problem is that we will need more than a few runs.
No shock at all Matzek is tough on lefty vs right.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=matzety01&year=2014&t=p
Look like we would be seeing more SVS.
http://dodgersdigest.com/2014/09/15/scott-van-slykes-time-to-shine/
Yup. And Donnie’s going to take a hot hitter in Crawford and ice him going into the playoffs by playing SVS. Sounds about right.
Stinks…..and, Hanley is scratched from the lineup….elbow strain…JT at short.
Oh no. Anybody but Turner at short. Please, please, give us Rojas or Arruebarrena. The extra hits from Turner are not worth the crappy defense he plays at short.
Well the lineup is the lineup here we go again.
Quickly down by 1.
Not a good start.
Well…this sucks! Puig and the umpire both screwed Haren
Nice play by Gordon, but it’s 3-0.
This game could be an interesting test to see if the bats are still alive.
5-0 game.
Seems like this game’s over before the Giants even start.
Tough night for Haren. And so far a tough night for the offense. Back on the roller coaster?
One-Two
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Go Big Blue…
This Tyler Matzek looks like he knows what he’s doing.
WAYdago Turner 5-2
Turner should’ve stopped at 3rd.
Close play at the plate with Turner. Could have used that run.
How do you send a guy with no outs? Bundy is making a career of this.
Yep…another dumb move by him!
Puig has lost his swagger…He isn’t hitting his helmet, nor his bicep’s with the bat between pitches. He used to be confident on what his game plan was when he stepped into the box…now, his body language is slower, less active and he looks to be just swinging at the ball vs attacking the ball.
He definitely looks like a lesser hitter than he was..well at the moment. He seems to be missing too many fast balls.
He stinks right now!
Still, only the first out of the inning nit Hanley and Puig can’t it done.
True, but the first out of the inning at the plate, trailing by three.
12 hits and 2 runs in 6 innings. Back to the SOS as always. Can’t hit with runners on.
Why the hell does Donnie keep puttiing League out there?! Give the new kids a chance……Brandon SUCKS!
Well, crap!
Well there goes those two runs.
Bench-Buns
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Bring us some runs…
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Bench-Buns
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Bring us some runs…
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Bench-Buns
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Bring us some runs…
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Bench-Buns
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Bring us some runs…
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Bench-Buns
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Bring us some runs…
12 hits, 2 runs.
😦
They’re still hitting but they stop scoring.
Time for them to roll over now.
The Dodgers are 3-14 w RISP tonight.
Puig finally hit one out.
GO DBACKS!!!
16 hits and 4 runs.
The more things change, the more things stay the same.
Yep Beav, sad… If AGon doesn’t drive them in, we’re screwed… He left four on… Pussig sucked tonight with runners on…. I get more tired of his act everyday….
Yup. Plays the game like Donnie manages it – with rectal-cranial inversion.
To me, it’s no longer he is learning, as an excuse. He is just thinking of himself and not the team.
Let’s get them tomorrow.
Pathetic performance. On all fronts…. A bad night… Put it away and get’em tonight……. Go Dodger!!!!!!!!!!
Plaschke, in the L.A. Times this morning, reiterates what we’ve all felt this season: a bit of a fractured clubhouse—
http://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/la-sp-dodgers-plaschke-20140917-column.html
Ned: “Not every team is going to be the same, not every team is going to be a cookie cutter-type club, but as long as they play the game the right way, I can roll with it.”
Donnie: “I don’t want to explain it. It’s different. It’s a different group.”
Can’t ever expect continuity from a Ned built ball club. Every year at least half (give or take a couple) the 25-man roster is replaced.
To tell you the truth I was happy to read about this. This team seems to be different than the goody-goody clubs that played in the postseasons’ of 2009, 2010, 2013 and prior to that, maybe the result will be different also.
I read an article on Puig yesterday…and how he’s been cooperating with the FBI, in the human smuggling case of one of the people who helped him get to the states. It said they believe 3 million dollars had been paid to this individual on Puigs behalf. It also mentioned that one of the smugglers showed up at spring training shortly after his arrival wanting to get paid.
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The guy has a lot of irons in the fire, so to speak…
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What does this have to do with his play on the field…maybe nothing…and again, it is just an article…
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Anyhow, he finally hit one out of the park, and for a guy who seems to thrive on confidence…Maybe this is a step in the right direction.
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Hanley and his recent injury, befuddles me as well… especially, if it was something preventable.
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Haren was a victim of some rather unsettling circumstances last night…but, I thought he fought through it rather well, even if the results of his performance weren’t spectacular.
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A win today…gives them two big ones in Colorado and a series win…
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Oh yeah, nice job from Turner and Gordon last night…damn nice job.
Barney 2B
Puig CF
Gonzalez 1B
Kemp RF
Uribe 3B
Crawford LF
Federowicz C
Rojas SS
Frias P
Guess Donnie’s given up on getting the best record.
This lineup had to show up sometime, no way around it really. Ellis could no doubt use a day off, and there is superior defense at short. I guess Hanley can use another day off. Barney is the only one I really wonder about. But I had hoped to get out of there with a win before heading off to face the Cubs, otherwise we might find ourselves facing the giants with more must win games. I like our chances against sf at home, but funny things happen sometimes. I’d like to go into next week with a cushion.
PUIG: here is my synthesis on him, He gets flack if he runs too agressively, now he gets flack for not trying to take the extra base. I would be a bit confused too. Am I doing things right, constantly checking myself. Let him play as himself. The wild horse needs to be let out of the stable. And after looking at the replay of the Kemp hit to right when Puig was at first, I think going to second was the prudent thing to do. It was a one hop shot to the right fielder and up with it cleanly ready to throw. Puig should do what puts the dodgers in best place to win and keep everybody safe and healthy. It does not matter what the score was, be it a blow out or a one run game, if puig felt he could not make it to 3rd safely then it was the correct decsion. I side with Puig on that and Kemp was a bit zealous with his commentary, if that was what the discussion was about.
Sorry Donnie, totally disagree with your operational viewpoint, people that have been hitting, keep them playing until clinch, rest will come after the clinch. There is no reason anybody else should be playing 2nd base. Unfortunate that hanley is sore, fine give him rest, arrubuena or rojas are superior defensively and may surprise with some hitting. Crawford needs to be playing. I really dont care if the pitcher is lefty or righty. Good hitters adjust.
Coors field is never easy. The Cubs have their young talent ready to show their Mangement what they can do; and the Gnats are feeling quite confident that they can win the west.
Roll it all up and put the hammer down on clinching this division.
GO DODGERS!
Barney’s career OBP is .291 and he has stolen 20 bases over six years. Surely Donnie could find a better option for the lead-off hitter.
If the offense continue to hit, all we’ll need is another outing from Frias like his last start and we’ll have a good chance to win today, in my opinion. But of course, who knows with these games?
Morneau quickly puts us in a 3 run hole.
um, I hope this is first inning jitters. I think frias is getting pinched by the ump, but hey, no excuses.
Aren’t going to score 3 runs with the line-up we have.
Great. Kershaw, Greinke and nothing. Yup, this team will go far in the playoffs.
No problemo. Playoff rotation will be:
Kershaw
Greinke
Haren
Kershaw
Greinke
Frias
Kershaw’s arm falls off
Greinke’s arm falls off
I hope somebody will try to steal, maybe we’ll get another out.
Just like yesterday 5-0 game.
Time to bring in the long relief expert. Oh, yeah, that was Frias.
Imagine, 10 hits from 11 batters.
Make that 11 of 13 and the Dodgers have their work cut out for them in an 8-0 ballgame.
12 batters, 11 hits, 8 runs
I was going to say this o.e of.”those” ges.but haven’t we already had two games like this in the past 5 games? Ryu’s injury hurts big time.
As much as I like to knock Mattingly and the front office, losing Beckett, and now Ryu, is crushing.
You could probably add Bills into this mix, as it looked for a while like he’d be able to help this season.
Wheres the tequila? Kidding, Where the pitching and hitting going to come from the Dodgers? Forget it, we are 2 games up with Madbum pitching for the gnats. I think I cant watch anymore, then I say its just the 2nd inning, then I get smart and realize it will get worse.
All stay healthy, I have heard of these epic falls by the dodgers, dont like them, I know Im being negative , but wow why cant the dodgers smack up 8 runs in a inning, and Barney actually got on base in the first to get us going, puig, No hit, Gonzo, no hit, kemp no hit.
and that the way this game goes and all those back up players that I didnt want playing will be in soon enough. BLOW out. Hope we come home in first place on sunday night.
The tequila is on my table…soon to be in my hand! The verdict is still undecided, on whether I am kidding or not???
OH NO, MR BILL!!!! THEY’RE BATTING AGAIN!!!!!!!
Does this mean the rox are going to score 64 runs.
Nothing like those things in the forecast. I’d just pretend I needed something in the clubhouse and get on the bus and leave.
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Do we have this right? We’re the division leader and they have the worse record in baseball? It’s wonderful games like this that make think we nee a bigger lead next week.
I’m holding a bottle of tequila while watching what resembles a cartoon of a game…Thinking, any minute, I’ll hear the catch phrase…”There’s no need to fear
UnderdogBench-Buns is here!”When does the Mercy Rule kick in? Must be 18-0?
This is why I love this blog, There’s always somebody on it regardless of the score.
Guess they just kicked the extra point on that second touchdown.
Drew Butera playing first base? By the eighth inning, Donnie should let Dre play first, and move Butera to the mound.
Looks like the good old days when you look at the Batting Averages in the lineup:
Barney 2b .231
Bernardina lf .148
Butera 1b .188
Coulombe p .000
SVS rf .274
Pederson cf .118
FedEx c .119
Rojas 3b .193
Arruebarrena ss .226
Where’s Eugenio Velez when we need him most?
SVS might be a little embarrassed.
Lol.. Nice Crash. The Velez citing was awesome….
Thanks, jhall. I started with Elian Herrera, then at the last second, remembered Velez.
In a game like this…I wonder… if and when someone hits a home-run for the Dodgers, will the Bubble Machine be like “yeah, you the man”…then kick out, a lone, celebratory, floating foam???
The Dbacks are our only hope today, needless to say.
It may be the tequila talking, but at this point…I’m eagerly awaiting Charlie’s home-run call…
Barney Rubble made your wish come true.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t hear Charlie…as I was yelling…”GET OUT OF HERE! GET OUT OF HERE! GET OUT OF HERE!! GONE! SOMEONE GIVE BARNEY ANOTHER BULLET!!”
I have been dozing off and on while listening to the audio feed. I might have been dreaming or something because I thought the score was 23-0 when I woke up.
I was surprised to hear it was ONLY 15-0.
This is the type of game most players, I think, would be thinking of improving their own stats.
HaHa!!
Just what I meant, Barney with his first HR as a Dodger.
We scored. Mercy Rule cancelled.
Well I guess the final score won’t be worse than 16-1.
OK I returned. Sorry about my Darwin Barney comment earlier as not needed. Now Im done with him. Did the bubble machine go off?
Being in the SF Bay Area, everybody is tuned in to that snake/gnat game, yikes, and they were the ones that told me about Barney. GO Diamond Backs! they actually could be in the lead, as Madbum wasnt so good, very lucky though!
Well this game’s over.
Correia was sure a good pick-up. Thanks Ned!!
I see Andre got his K. Good job.
And Donnie has his club playing at peak performance. Well done my friend. Well done.
That’s just today, tomorrow nights another game.
Sometimes I’ve just got to wonder about this.
Kevin Kennedy seems to be making it a daily event scratching his head over Mattingly. Trouble is, I always agree with him. This time it was Frias and why neither FedEx, Hunnybuns or D.Baseball paid a visit to the mound until the 6th batter…why it was fastball after fastball, and why DM left him out there so long (a young pitcher making his 2nd major league start) to absorb a record-setting day of futility when you have an expanded roster of pitchers. Kennedy, having been a minor league manager (and major league), worked with many young pitchers and worries about Frias’ mental state going forward.
A wise manager handles his younger players with tact and puts them in a position to succeed. If the player is not succeeding, then take him out and lessen the embarrassment. Give the player a chance to learn, but not rub his nose in it. Do you think Donnie will EVER learn?
we were snake bit today, off to tequila land
Two game lead – magic number is stuck at nine.
At least we still have a sense of humor. Glad I was not able to watch today. So the Dodgers can now add this blow out game to the no hitters and triple plays that form the memorable and not so memorable parts of this crazy season.
Well, another crap the bed night….Frias and Correia sucked…… Thanks Ned…. Doesn’t matter that we were 0 for 8 with RISP and left 7 on…. Just another pathetic effort… I wish Nedcompoop and Dildon were gone…. Geez!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Squandered momentum. Well lets try it again today. WGN used to show a bunch of Cubs games, but we’re only getting one of the four game set set. Gameday for me.
Thank god the Dodgers finally decided to move their AAA team to Oklahoma City… Good grief…. Albuquerque sucked…..
And, from what I’ve read, our AA team will be in Tulsa… I like it…
They say it’s a fabulous stadium.
Now we can forget about spelling the word,” Albuquerque”, if you didn’t get it right by now forgeddaboutit.
With Kershaw poised to win another Cy Young, I keep worrying about “windows of opportunity” with such a gifted pitcher. Here’s a look at the Dodgers’ past Cy Young winners, how the team fared, and who managed. My conclusion? Donnie Baseball is another Jim Tracy….
1956-Don Newcombe (MVP as well): Lose World Series—Walt Alston (manager)
1962-Don Drysdale: Lose 3-game playoff to Giants—Walt Alston
1963-Sandy Koufax: Win World Series over Yankees—Walt Alston
1965-Sandy Koufax: Win World Series over Twins—Walt Alston
1966-Sandy Koufax: Lose World Series to O’s—Walt Alston
1974-Mike Marshall: Lose World Series to A’s—Walt Alston
1981-Fernando Valenzuela: Win World Series over Yankees—Tommy Lasorda
1988-Orel Hershiser: Win World Series over A’s—Tommy Lasorda
2003-Eric Gagne: Miss playoffs—Jim Tracy
2011-Clayton Kershaw: MIss playoffs—Don Mattingly
2013-Clayton Kershaw: Lose NLCS to Cards—Don Mattingly
Its well known that I can’t stand Mattingly, but who else can you hold responsible for a team with this much talent who hasn’t played anywhere near its potential all year long? Even Ned can get a pass for the most part, but injuries aside, Donnie’s had a stacked deck all year long and done nothing with it. Only twice all year have they won 4 in a row. Bochy’s got a team with 2/3 the talent playing to 2 games back of a team that was anointed WS champs before the season started. Now in September when the Cards, Nats, Bucs and Giants are all playing their best ball, Donnie’s still fucking around with all RH line-ups and making the same poor in-game decisions he did 4 years ago.
IMO it’d be worth it to have them blow the division and lose the game to the Bucs if we could be 100% certain he’d get canned.
The problem with your proposal is that the Guggs are such namby-pambys. Heck, they can’t even negotiate a television deal properly. How can we trust that they will fire Mattingly if he blows the playoff run?