March 24th, 2018 at 12:00 pm 
by Ron Cervenka Remember that old saying “Money talks and…” well, you know the rest. By every indication, it reared its ugly head again on Saturday morning when Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told the media at his daily morning scrum that switch-pitcher Pat Venditte, whom the Dodgers had signed to a minor league contract on November 27, 2017 and had invited to major league spring training camp, would begin the season at Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Aside from the novelty of being the only switch-pitcher in the MLB in the 21st century, Venditte was the Dodgers best reliever not named Kenley Jansen this spring. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
All the 32-year-old Omaha, Nebraska native and former Oakland Athletic and Seattle Mariner did was appear in more games than any Dodger pitcher (nine), throw more innings than any other Dodger reliever (10.1), while posting the lowest ERA (1.74) of any reliever who pitched more than eight innings this spring. Along the way, Venditte allowed only two earned runs on seven hits, while walking three and striking out 13. As such, he was the last of the non-roster invitees in camp.
…until Saturday morning, that is, when Robert informed the media that Venditte, the team’s most effective and efficient reliever, will begin the season at OKC instead of Los Angeles.
Perhaps Venditte’s biggest moment this spring was on March 17, when he struck our Arizona Diamondbacks slugger Paul Goldschmidt to retire the side. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
In his stead, beleaguered right-hander Pedro Baez and his recently signed (on January 18) one-year / $1.5 million contract (to avoid arbitration) will be on the Dodgers 25-man roster on Opening Day this coming Thursday.
In case you were wondering, and let’s face it, why wouldn’t you, Baez appeared in only seven spring training games in which he allowed five earned runs on 11 hits, while walking one and striking out five in his 6.2 innings of work. That equates to an ERA of 6.75. Along the way, he picked up a vulture win after blowing a save and had (wait for it…) two balks on consecutive pitches.
So why, then, does Baez, who was so bad last season that he was left off of the NLCS and World Series rosters, make the team and Venditte does not? Well, aside from that “Money talks” thing, Roberts just plain likes Pedro Baez, spring training results be damned.
“I’m definitely confident that he’s worked out his issues,” Roberts told reporters prior to last season’s NLDS. “It was, I don’t know, three weeks of tough sledding for Pedro. But I think his last four outings, I think he had four scoreless outings in a row and threw the ball well.
“If you look at the entire body of work and the last couple weeks or 10 days he’s thrown the baseball really well and had a great year.”
This was, of course, was before Roberts excluded Baez from the NLCS and World Series rosters.
There is no kind way to put it, but this decision has ‘disaster’ written all over it. In other words, They hanged the wrong man.
See you in LA soon, Pat.
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(Author’s note: If you go back through the articles I wrote this spring, you will find several on Pat Venditte. There is a very obvious reason for this; he pitched exceptionally well in his 10 spring training appearances. And while Baez may have had a few brief good moments this spring, he was nowhere near as effective as Venditte).
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Venditte lifetime stats
Spring Training: ERA 2.45 games 38 innings pitched 40.1 K’s 33 WHIP 0.99
MLB: ERA 4.97 games 41 innings pitched 50.2 K’s 42 WHIP 1.36
In 211 games pitched for Dodgers Baez ERA is 3.04 and a 1.12 WHIP. Last season Baez was terrific until August with an ERA around 1.50 and the wheels completely came off in September.
This Spring Baez had one really poor outing, March 10 against the Cubs when he allowed 3 ER in 2/3 of an inning. In his other 6 appearances Baez allowed 2 runs, both earned, for an ERA of 3.00.
Perhaps Venditte should replace Alexander whose ST performance was disappointing.
I fully realize that past performance is, for the most part, all that we have to predict future performance … with one major exception – eyes-on evaluations; and make no mistake about it, my eyes were very much on Pat Venditte this spring.
The loss of Tom Koehler was a huge blow to the Dodgers, who were looking at him as a possible replacement for the loss of Brandon Morrow to free agency. When Koehler went down, all (or at least most) eyes fell on Yimi Garcia (who is still working his way back from Tommy John surgery) and, of course, Pat Venditte. And while Venditte may not have the MLB history that you (SoCalBum) like, he flat out kicked ass this spring; enough to convince me that he is a valuable acquisition and asset to the 2018 Dodgers.
I have seen all that I need to see from Pedro Baez. He is (as baseball1439 noted) a head case. His confidence is toast, even with an occasional good outing and the never-ending support and endorsement from Dave Roberts. I am willing to wager any amount that you wish that he will fall right back into being a complete failure, hence, the topic of this article.
As for Alexander, I was opposed to this acquisition the day that it happened, and have absolutely zero confidence in him. He did absolutely nothing to impress me or improve my opinion of him this spring, and I also see him as being a complete bust.
As for JT Chargois, I am all-in on him. I would have preferred he and Venditte over Baez and Alexander any day of the week.
Keeping Baez over Venditte will prove to be a huge mistake … mark my words.
By the way, I am not a fan of Baez but not convinced that the soon to be 33 year old Venditte is anything other than a good AAA pitcher, possibly a AAAA pitcher. Baez has a much higher upside than Venditte but is on a very short leash with Yimi Garcia waiting in Camelback, perhaps as soon as the end of his 10 days on DL. Let’s see how Venditte does at OKC, but also keep an eye on Moran, Corcino, Copping, and Sborz who all pitched well in ST.
Not a fan of Baez, I think he is nothing but a head case.I also agree with SoCalBum, Alexander has been disappointing.
Ditto. (See my reply to SCB above).
I was looking to see more of Venditte, I thought he’d make the team out of spring training. I’m sure if he keeps up the good work, we’ll see him soon in the big leagues, again.
As far as Baez is concerned, I hope he finds his way back to the way he was before he went into his slump.
Ron, I hope you are very wrong….but I think you are VERY right. I “get” Dave’s desire for Baez to get straightened out….but he’s had a lot of chances. It’s a young man’s game and not all young men have the mental makeup or maturity to excel even though they may have great physical abilities. Unquestionably, Baez has great physical ability. I wish it weren’t true but it is. It APPEARS to also be the case(?) with Joc?
Hopefully we’ll see Chargois & Venditte at the Ravine and soon!
I believe that you nailed it.