Freddie Freeman Hottest Player in MLB, What’s Wrong With James Outman, Will Dodgers DFA Trayce Thompson?
The Los Angeles Dodgers have some streaking players as they enter June and a series with the New York Yankees at home.
Freddie Freeman is arguably the hottest player in baseball right now, entering June with a 20-game hitting streak and coming off a month in which he slashed .400/.462/.722. He’s not the only red-hot Dodger, though, as J.D. Martinez is in the midst of a 15-game hitting streak of his own, and just had a slugging percentage of .703 in May with eight home runs and 24 runs batted in.
Not everything is going great for the Dodgers, though, as James Outman and Trayce Thompson are among the guys really struggling to figure things out.
Over on our YouTube channel (subscribe here), Doug McKain, Clint Pasillas and myself (Noah Camras) got on a roundtable for a fun segment we like to call, ‘Who’s Hot and Who’s Not.’
On the show, we highlighted all the hottest and coldest Dodgers, and gave our thoughts on how long it will take for the struggling guys to figure things out (or if they will, at all).
You can watch the full roundtable by clicking the video at the top of the article, or by clicking right here.
Obviously, it’s always fun to talk about the hottest players, but it feels more important to talk about the guys struggling. So we went in depth on the struggles of Outman, Thompson and even Clayton Kershaw, and talked about what they need to do to get back on track.
We also gave our confidence level in them turning things around, and what the Dodgers may need to do to maximize their production.
I highly recommend you watch the video, which again, you can get by clicking the video at the top of this page, or just by clicking right here.
And, as always, we want your thoughts.
How long can Freeman and Martinez keep their hitting streaks going. And what’s your confidence level in Outman, Thompson and Kershaw figuring things out? Let us know in the comments below!
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Sorry, but Will Smith is simply NOT a great catcher, as a receiver and a pitch caller.. He doesn’t move well to block errant pitches, and has an average arm. (I played vs Johnny Bench and you could hang your wash on his throws to 2nd! Smith is weak regarding his pitch call sequences. They’re just puzzling–he doesn’t call games well. Young pitchers, and pitchers trying to restart their careers, need someone who knows how to call pitch sequences really well. It’s night & day btw Smith & Punch & Judy” Barnes. That’s why Kershaw trusts Barnes…NOT Smith. Yes Will can hit, so move him to third base.
The Muncy “reclamation” project has run it’s course. ‘Fat Max’ is an average fielder, who slugs in spurts, but averages close to the Mendoza line. He will NEVER hit for average, but does provides decent trade bait. The old baseball adage is,Trade players while they still have value, and before they totally lose it!
Alex Vesia’s follow through mechanics are awful. Falls off towards 3rd base after every pitch. You’d think Prior would correct this obvious fault. Arm angle high release point always puts pitches up because of his falloff, and bc of this arm angle follow through falloff, has a hard time throwing knee high, inside, heaters. He’s a “one trick pony”-High heaters! He desperately needs a pitching mechanics correction or I predict he’s out of LA!
Back to Will…Smith also says he has faith that Syndergaard will turn it around? This dumb statement proves Smith is a good teammate who lies to protect teammates he likes. Actually Will, you’re a good hitter; an average catcher, and should be a DH, 3rd baseman, & an OCCASIONAL catcher!
FACT: Noah is MEAT-He’s done! His 100 VELO is gone which used to protect his mistakes earlier in his career..There’s now Little MPH difference in his moderate 92 ‘heater’ and his 90 cutter or 85 change. Injuries can do that. Whichever the Dodger front office genius is who sold this washed up dude to LA for 10 mil should be fired! You can’t keep putting him out there or you will continue to lose games.
Just a wild-hare note: the Dodgers should consider trading 26 year old James Outman straight up for Lane Thomas of the Nationals who @ 27 is 1 year older than Outman and gives Dodgers a solid, 5 tool. young, major league player, who’s getting better.
AND last but not least, there’s Graterol. For all his size and strength, he’s another pitching coach failure. How many times have Centerfielders made over the fence catches on balls he threw that were headed out of the park? Others, like last game vs Washington, simply went over the fence. (BTW a terrible pitch call by Smith who called an off speed curve/slurve which went straight to Garcia’s hit zone, belt high and curving in. He had Garcia, 2 strikes, 2 outs, in a 5-5 game, on hard stuff, but inexplicitly called for a pitch that Graterol is simply not good enough to throw and execute. Boom! 3 run dinger and that’s the ballgame folks! Brusdar’s mechanics are terrible. He throws a straight as a string heater; he delivers pitches from a standing straight up position, and doesn’t have his off speed pitches tamed well enough bc changing speeds is all new to him. aFor all his 100 mph pitches, note how little he K’s hitters. He simply has NOT improved much from when the Dodgers got him. Again the front office geniuses don’t realize that just about every major league hitter can hit a 100mph straight line fast ball! Also, Graterol’s pitching motion doesn’t hide his pitches. He just is NOT elite enough to be a dependable Dodger reliever, and is another player LA should move.
And sadly but necessary, they must DFA Thompson!
The Vecchio Factor Says…