Editorials

Dodgers News: Bellinger to IL, Pollock Update, Should LA Have Kept Yoshi?

The Los Angeles Dodgers placed outfielder Cody Bellinger on the injured list Tuesday with a fractured left rib. The former MVP has struggled to get it going at the plate this season where he’s hitting .159 with a 29% strikeout rate. The injuries have piled up for the former MVP, who underwent offseason shoulder surgery and has already suffered three injuries that have led to IL stints this season.The Dodgers recalled outfielder Luke Raley from Triple-A Oklahoma City in a corresponding move.

We discuss Bellinger’s latest bad break, the likelihood that he’ll play a role for LA again this season and if it’s time for the team to shut him down for the year. Plus, are the Dodgers going with Luke Raley instead of Matt Beaty and should the team have held on to Yoshi Tsutsugo, who’s been a very productive hitter for the Pirates since the Dodgers let him go?



Next, Gavin Lux has been one of the Dodgers’ hottest hitters since being recalled on September 10th. The Dodgers’ former top prospect has filled in nicely in left field and has provided a big spark for LA’s offense. The “Kid From Kenosha” has added much needed length to LA’s lineup where he’s hit .500 (13-26) in his last nine games. We discuss Gavin Lux’s role when AJ Pollock gets healthy and if he could make the outfield his home in the future. Plus, Gavin Lux shares how Mookie Betts has helped him make the transition to playing the outfield.

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Doug McKain

Doug McKain is a lifelong Dodger fan and hosts Dodgers Nation’s “DNpostgame” show online. He also hosts Dodgers DougOut and the LA Sports Report on YouTube. DMAC is also a rabid Lakers fan, and lover of all Los Angeles sports.

17 Comments

  1. Doug: 1) The question re Lux is difficult and is part of a jig saw puzzle. It depends largely on what Seager will do; if he comes back then SS is his; T Turner stays at 2d and will become great there after he fully learns the position; and J. Turner may at age 38 be the DH if the DH is adopted, leaving 3d for Lux, or either of the corner outfield jobs with Mookie in center, if Bellinger does not fully recover. So the answer is: it depends. 2) I would like to understand why some players think idiotically that they need to stay in the lineup while injured, even though they are not performing 110%? Going back at least to Eddie Murray days in the ’90s, he played hurt, struck out much and did not hit, and cost the Doggers a pennant! Why not run a cast on this issue? 3) As far as the player who went to the Pirates, he did not hit in LA, so who knows; being a regular could have wakened him?

    1. injured players staying in the lineup only do so for 1 reason – the Mgr doesn’t have a better choice to sub

      1. Joe, that’s a new one!!!! LMAO…………Beaty and Lux weren’t better options than 158 hitting Bellinger? Your killing me Smalls!!!! Stick to your DRRRRRRRRRR’s apologist shtick…….

  2. Lux is finally staying back more and not opening his hips up as quickly. He used to swing and come out of his shoes, and his overall mechanics look WAY better, so his production is no surprise.

    Now we just have to get him to understand outfield 101, and then when playing left field, you ALWAYS turn your head to the RIGHT on balls over your head because the ball tends to slice that direction. It’s painful watching him play outfield, but he has the athleticism to adjust, just hopefully sooner than later.

  3. ABSOLUTELY MIND BAGEL-ING to see this Dodger Team, 11 games left, 1 game out, and a right fielder and a left fielder with very little to zero experience playing their new positions. That’s it? And bringing in KJ to close it out w/o at least him putting 1, if to 2 runners on, just to build the anxiety level to max. as he did last year in every playoff game that he was in. DR looking very exhausted and maybe this is a reason for his countless blunders, but maybe he is always right and everyone else is wrong? But thinking that Pollack will be the answer, forget it. It’s Robert’s that is preventing this team from moving forward.

  4. Don’t think we’ll catch the Giants. Hope we’re not one and done in the playoffs.

    1. With Roberts’ stupid decision making, it’s very possible. If it happens, the FO NEEDS to fire him and hire someone like Mike Sciosa to manage.

      1. OMG .. Soscia is a blundering idiot! Just look at this moron’s track record with angels!

      2. dodger boy – Scoscia???????? hahahahaha. sorry that ship has sailed. he’s not even close to getting hired for the local high school opening, let alone mgr leagues

      3. I’d dump DRRRRRRRRRRRR’s in a heartbeat for Bob Melvin…….There is a baseball man that get’s all out of everyone, and knows when to get a pitcher, plays situational baseball etc….Think what he could do with this 275 million dollar line up….

  5. I ‘ve made it a running joke, saying that Tsutsugo is “the one that got away” but his run with the Pirates, so far, has been pretty mind-boggling.
    Here’s his slash line in 32 games with Pittsburgh:.
    .314./400/.698 OPS: 1.098 7 HR 22 RBI.
    However, although he had hit for some power last year, he was a .220 hitter and he was even worse than that with TB this season hitting .167 in 26 games and hitting .120 in 12 games with the Dodgers.
    Tsutsugo, so far, is a classic case of a player getting an opportunity to play everyday on a mid-market team that’s going no where. He’s flourishing in a much lower leverage environment as is Peters in Texas.
    We’ll never know–but the sporadic playing time, coupled with the intense pressure of playing for the Dodgers, was a difference-maker for both players–they did not look like big league caliber hitters, factoring in the short sample size.

    1. Couple things,Tsutsugo was terrible with us. Just like it was said earlier; we basically had to let him go. Maybe the sheer volume of fans and the LA brand WAS too much. As for DJ, I would not be so sure about him being a solid major leaguer yet. He has FOUR walks in 177 at bats and is hitting .202 with Texas. So maybe he is not ready. Still up in the air with him

      1. Both were good passes, that are easy to second guess in hindsight. DJ has a cool name, but he’s not a major leaguer.

        Tsutsugo on the other hand is a mystery, because the guy clearly had the skills, and was pretty athletic for his size (kind of like Muncy). But if Rob (Dodgers hitting coach) couldn’t fix his bat, I would have bet nobody could have. But clearly someone figured it out, and his tearing the cover off the ball.

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