GAME THREAD D'BAGS/DODGERS NLDS

• “I got through the first four innings, I think it was, not throwing a lot of strikes, and then I started executing a lot better the last two innings,” Greinke said. “But both [Bellinger and Barnes] hit home runs on kind of pitches I wanted them to hit. They were not swinging at balls, so I threw a quality pitch, and they hit it. There’s not much I could really do about it. I thought we played pretty good, but they played really good. Didn’t make many mistakes over there.”

um... okay lol

 

This is where you can find the hater. He chooses himself.
When a player is like Puig and you hate him because he makes a mistake you are showing that you dont understand the game or that you are just a guy who hates Puig. Which is fine if thats what it is. Hate away.

Puig is what he is because he is what he is. If you take away the RIGHT to make an ill advised play once in a while you will by laws of nature start removing the great plays he makes little by little until he is a shell of his former self.
This may not make a lot of sense to some, but its baseball. It is extremely rare to have a Brahma bull in your house and have him not put holes everywhere with his horns. So you know... you just spin it and take it for what it is and say "I live in a Holy House and get free air conditioning in the summer". You deal with the cold in the winter when the time comes.
The way Puig plays is not new, there have been players like him before. And those players you just dont fuck around with too much.
You let them do their thing and just give them advice and try to steer them in the right direction knowing full well that eventually, they will break a piece of fine crystal dinnerware if you invite them over for a nice meal.
But... that its alright because having them at the dinner table is what makes the dinner special.

 

The only real issue I always had with Joc is that down the line I never thought he projected to be a CF for very long.
No natural instinct for the position, only athletic ability. His mentality does not seem to sit right at CF either. Too passive.
IMO he was destined to transition into LF.
And his power stroke is better suited for that as well since at some point power will give you HR which will tempt you to invest more into your power body and power swing which will make your other skills and abilities deteriorate.
All of this fat Joc stuff may in fact empower him in the next phase of his career when he comes back as a LF.
He is probably thinking he needs to put on massive muscle and is carbloading himself in order to become a 40HR hitting LF with some decent enough mobility and defense.
Even if he can muster up a .245 AVG but get on base at a + .355 clip but slug over in the .565 range... there are good available jobs for a player like that.
It may be that Joc has realized that this is his best chance for a long standing MLB career.

 

i don't like what i see from joc
happy he's being a team guy/good cheerleader
but it seems like he doesn't get it -- like the dodgers are going to keep him regardless
the trip to the minors should have been a hint
being left off the postseason should have removed any doubt
puig's biggest problem was approach
and he's clearly worked hard to get back -- his plate discipline has impressed the hell out of me
joc needs a full [swing] overhaul
his swing is too big and, thus, has too many holes pitchers can easily exploit
joc needs to become a line drive hitter
but i have serious doubts he could or would even be willing to do so