On a team that's in first place with the best record in baseball, what could they possibly need more of? A tough question, given that the Dodgers have been pretty darn good all year, and just about everyone on the roster has been solid. Let's examine:
Starting Lineup:
Martin. While he hasn't been hitting for any kind of power, you have to appreciate how he's gotten on base so darn consistently. Looking at his splits, though, pitchers tend to pitch around him with runners on base, and he's more likely to take the walk, thus the low RBI totals. But given how Dodger catchers, or any catchers, usually perform in the second half, let's hope he'll be an outlier this year.
Loney. Loney doesn't have the power you want for a first baseman, but he does tend to deliver with runners in scoring position. Frequently. He's more aggressive than Martin, and he still has a little bit of pop, or at least more than Martin. And for his career, Loney has an ISO power of .143 in the first half and .191 in the second half - he hits the ball harder later in the year. Like in the NLDS. So I'm not giving up on him. And for what it's worth, he seems to be one of Ramirez's favorite guys on the team.
Hudson. The All-Star reminded us of the risk the Dodgers took when signing him - he's fragile. If he's not healthy, the Dodgers have Blake DeWitt to back him up, which isn't a bad thing. Hudson is more of a first half player anyway, though; while he'll probably be useful for a while, the Dodgers may have seen the best of him.
Blake. Surprisingly good, the Beard has come through for the Dodgers offensively, posting a .279/.362/.472 line. Blake does tend to perform at a lower level in the second half, although that is almost entirely due to a lower BABIP. So we might still be able to depend on Blake.
Furcal. In 2006, Furcal was off to a terrible start, hitting .267/.345/.346 before the first half while dealing with nagging injuries. In the second half, though, he hit .339/.399/.564 with 11 HR in 298 AB to lead the Dodgers to the playoffs, where JD Drew and Jeff Kent ruined everything. In 2007, Furcal began the year with a .273/.341/.354 line. No problem, he'll just have a great 2nd half again, right? Wrong, he hit .266/.322/.355 while dealing with more injuries. We're hoping he's more like 2006 this year, although maybe he needs to feel more of the pressure that year. Someone else, though, has been stealing the spotlight, and his name is...
Manny. He's been good except for when he was naughty and punished. He might have legitimately had sexual dysfunciton, but it's easier to smear him as a juicer. Fair enough. In any event, people largely seem to accept that he's done his time and it's time to move on. Or they're sick of hearing about steroid users. In any event, he's OPSing 1.000 and he's happy where he is. That doesn't make a difference in his performance, but the ESPN guys want you to think it does. Juan Pierre had a great run in his absence, but his last few games he's seeing fewer pitches, etc, like he's not in Beast Mode anymore.
Kemp. Can you say superstar? "Matt Kemp is probably nicknamed the Bison because he's tougher than a Robot Made of Nails." Kemp is hitting for better average than last year, and he's showing better plate discipline as well, posting a .321/.385/.500 line so far. His power and speed numbers are looking solid too, and his defense has been remarkable, including his pre all-star break overhead backwards catch to end the game.
Ethier. Hitting for power, and likely to be the first 30 HR Dodger since Beltre in 04, Ethier is having a relatively rough year at the plate. He's been striking out a lot more, which has pulled his average down to .254, and his walk rate is a bit better too. Ethier's BABIP is way down this year, and while his LD rate is down slightly and could fluctuate, his FB% is up and GB% is down by a lot, which will significantly drop his average. Granted, his HR/FB% is nice at over 15%, but he'll have to improve a bit or cut his K rate down a bit to get back to where he wants to be.
The offense is amazingly not a problem for this year's Dodgers. While some more power would be nice, that will come with more plate appearances for Manny, and a good second half from Furcal and Loney. Like 2006, they lead the league in OBP, and they will probably still leave a lot of men on base.
The Dodgers pitching is...also very good. But let's look at what might be improved:
Chad Billingsley appears to be hitting a rough patch. His ERA has soared to 3.76, and the biggest problem seems to be Torre not pulling him - either when he's thrown over 100 pitches ing the game or 30 pitches in an inning. Sure he's the staff ace, but at 24, he's still a young pitcher, and the Dodgers have an 8 man bullpen.
Clayton Kershaw looks like he's in a groove. His 2.91 ERA and 8.8 k/9 are the nicer stats, although his walk rate is a bit troubling. He is avoiding the worst true outcome, though - he's not giving up the long ball. Having surrendered 5 in 106 innings is remarkable, and will help him get away with his success.
Randy Wolf has given up the long ball more, but doesn't let other guys on base. With a rotation leading 1.1 WHIP, he's been quite good for the Dodgers. There haven't been any health scares this year (and he pitched 190 innings last year), so the king of the no-decision looks like he deserves some respect.
Hiroki Kuroda still seems to be getting back into things, but he seems to be in line with where he was last year. He'll have his rough spots, and then he'll be brilliant, and for the most part he'll be pretty good. When you have Billingsley and Kershaw, he's a good player to mix in. Still works efficiently.
Eric Stults continues to be a useful surprise, but doesn't seem to get his spot in the rotation.
Jeff Weaver performed decently enough as a swingman so far, and he'll probably continue to be good in that role. His peripherals do not support his ERA at all, so unless he can be an extreme groundballer, he may drop off.
Jason Schmidt must be watched for the next couple games. If he can hold up for 5 or 6 innings a start, that would be a great lift to the Dodger rotation. To have a rotation of Billingsley, Kershaw, Wolf, Kuroda, Schmidt with the minor leaguers the Dodgers have would give them a lift; it wouldn't be Halladay, but it wouldn't be as costly.
Bullpen
Jonathan Broxton showed us that with a healthy toe, he's still the dominant guy he's been all year. Looking a lot like Gagne in 03 but with a higher walk rate and an even bigger waistline, Broxton has struck out 70 in 42 2/3 innings and only surrendered one homer. That's dominance.
Ronald Belisario came out of nowhere, and now he's hurt and the Dodgers are worried. There might not be more talent in nowhere. Or is there?
Ramon Troncoso has peripherals more like Wade and an ERA more like Wade last year, but he's been the man in 09.
Guillermo Mota has worked his way back to being respectable. Having surrendered only 3 homers in 44 innings, Mota is no Broxton, but he can get us there.
Brent Leach is a good situational lefty guy, and the rookie has been put in some high leverage situations with mixed results. It's encouraging to see Torre give him a shot, though.
James McDonald looks more comfortable in the bullpen than in the rotation, having posted a cool 2.35 ERA as a reliever with a 1.239 WHIP. Don't know if that's what the Dodgers want to do with him, but they might have to consider it as an option.
Claudio Vargas - "Sir Not Appearing in this Film"
Scott Elbert - has struck out 12 and walked 2 in 11 innings. That's not a lot of innings.
Extra depth for the rotation and/or bullpen would be nice, but the Dodgers could accomplish that by bidding money for Ben Sheets more effectively than bidding players for Roy Halladay. Besides, wouldn't a clubhouse of Sheets, Loney and Ramirez be hilarious?
Showing posts with label Recaps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Recaps. Show all posts
Monday, July 20, 2009
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Parallel Universe
Let's say we didn't read media reports out of Boston or listen to Curt Schilling's whining. Let's see then, how else me might determine why the Red Sox would trade Manny Ramirez for Jason Bay. Further, let's assume everyone is rational.
Ramirez is 35, and Boston can pay him $20 million a year if they keep him. If not, they get two draft picks in the offseason. Boston is in a win-now situation, and since the Yankees will be bidding for all the good free agents this offseason and the Rays have built a good club, Boston needs to hold onto their core. But this part of their core is aging and is at risk to be injured and have his performance decline.
To replace him in that position, they would be looking at someone who could stay there for a long time. This would be someone younger who projects to have a longer career, maybe a power/speed guy, maybe someone who can be really good defensively. Jason Bay would fit that description nicely, and he's already locked into a contract where he would make less than half of what Manny would make as he reaches his prime.
Pittsburgh is not going to take Manny for Bay, because they don't have that kind of money. Besides, Pittsburgh isn't ready to contend; they still need a pitching staff and could stand to bolster their lineup a bit. A rental of Manny Ramirez would not help them in the postseason, or even to be a winning ballclub. So, thanks, but no thanks. Pittsburgh wants to do what Baltimore did, get 4 or 5 young players for one star player.
Boston does not want to trade their top young players, but they're willing to give up a left fielder for a left fielder. Pittsburgh will not be satisfied with the young players Boston can deliver, so they need someone to take Ramirez. Enter the Dodgers.
Ned Colletti knows what he's doing - LaRoche has been injured and it would be too risky to expose the extent of the damage from that injury, even though his 2008 minor league numbers lack the power he showed the previous two seasons. Sunk costs as they are, Colletti wanted to sell LaRoche as high as possible, and at the same time, he knew that Frank McCourt would throw him out on his ass if he didn't land someone good. This deal comes across to him and naturally it looks like a no-brainer. A guy who's had shoulder and hand injuries possibly destroy his shot at being a good hitting 3rd baseman for a shot at getting to the postseason with one of the best hitters in the game. Naturally, he pulled the trigger, and made the boss man even happier by all the extra revenue that comes in thanks to the new superstar. In his position, he even insists that Boston chips in $7 million to pay for the rest of 2008 for Manny. No problem, says Boston, because they'll save $11 million next year by having Bay instead.
Makes sense for everyone. But what about those media reports? Well, Boston had to see it coming, and they like to burn players as they leave, but then again, so do the Braves. It makes it easier for the fans to swallow. Also, reporters like to sell the gossip stories, because those sell papers. And that's just the way the Boston media does things. But the media storyline is probably just a cover for what was actually going on - Boston and Pittsburgh made moves for the long term, and LA made the best move they could, which does nothing in the long term, but a lot in the short term.
Ramirez is 35, and Boston can pay him $20 million a year if they keep him. If not, they get two draft picks in the offseason. Boston is in a win-now situation, and since the Yankees will be bidding for all the good free agents this offseason and the Rays have built a good club, Boston needs to hold onto their core. But this part of their core is aging and is at risk to be injured and have his performance decline.
To replace him in that position, they would be looking at someone who could stay there for a long time. This would be someone younger who projects to have a longer career, maybe a power/speed guy, maybe someone who can be really good defensively. Jason Bay would fit that description nicely, and he's already locked into a contract where he would make less than half of what Manny would make as he reaches his prime.
Pittsburgh is not going to take Manny for Bay, because they don't have that kind of money. Besides, Pittsburgh isn't ready to contend; they still need a pitching staff and could stand to bolster their lineup a bit. A rental of Manny Ramirez would not help them in the postseason, or even to be a winning ballclub. So, thanks, but no thanks. Pittsburgh wants to do what Baltimore did, get 4 or 5 young players for one star player.
Boston does not want to trade their top young players, but they're willing to give up a left fielder for a left fielder. Pittsburgh will not be satisfied with the young players Boston can deliver, so they need someone to take Ramirez. Enter the Dodgers.
Ned Colletti knows what he's doing - LaRoche has been injured and it would be too risky to expose the extent of the damage from that injury, even though his 2008 minor league numbers lack the power he showed the previous two seasons. Sunk costs as they are, Colletti wanted to sell LaRoche as high as possible, and at the same time, he knew that Frank McCourt would throw him out on his ass if he didn't land someone good. This deal comes across to him and naturally it looks like a no-brainer. A guy who's had shoulder and hand injuries possibly destroy his shot at being a good hitting 3rd baseman for a shot at getting to the postseason with one of the best hitters in the game. Naturally, he pulled the trigger, and made the boss man even happier by all the extra revenue that comes in thanks to the new superstar. In his position, he even insists that Boston chips in $7 million to pay for the rest of 2008 for Manny. No problem, says Boston, because they'll save $11 million next year by having Bay instead.
Makes sense for everyone. But what about those media reports? Well, Boston had to see it coming, and they like to burn players as they leave, but then again, so do the Braves. It makes it easier for the fans to swallow. Also, reporters like to sell the gossip stories, because those sell papers. And that's just the way the Boston media does things. But the media storyline is probably just a cover for what was actually going on - Boston and Pittsburgh made moves for the long term, and LA made the best move they could, which does nothing in the long term, but a lot in the short term.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Well, That Was a Shocker
Ok, so it turns out that the NLCS will be Dodgers-Phillies, but LA swept (I did correctly call Phillies in 4 for the first round). The coverage of the Dodgers and Cubs seems to say almost entirely not so much that the Dodgers were good as that the Cubs were just awful. After all, they had the better regular season record, they had the better defense, etc. But as Billy Beane can tell you, the postseason is a crapshoot.
To be fair though, the Dodgers were a better team than their record suggests. Furcal replacing Berroa is huge at short, and Brad Penny and Andruw Jones are both not on the postseason roster. Manny was not with the team all year, nor was Casey Blake. DeWitt has shown himself to be a streaky player, and currently he's on a good one. Juan Pierre has been a bench player since Manny's acquisition. Scott Proctor stopped getting the ball in key situations - now that goes to Kuo, Broxton, Wade. To be fair, Chan Ho Park gave up the long ball and should have had a higher ERA, but that's all for that part. The Cubs, on the other hand, had a couple of guys having career years - 21 homers for Mark Derosa, an effective year as a starter for Ryan Dempster, for example.
LA faces what was one of the best offenses during the regular season. But remember, they already took on the best of the regular season. And while the Dodgers pitching will be tough to beat, Philly's staff is no group of slouches. When the two teams met earlier in the season, one team was having a good streak while the other had a poor one, resulting in two four game sweeps by the home team. Let's look head to head:
Starting Pitchers (based on NLDS):
Lowe vs Hamels
Billingsley vs Myers
Moyer vs Kuroda
Blanton vs Maddux (?)
Personally I'd like to see Moyer vs Maddux, a combined 87 years old. Wild cards to start are the two left-handed K men, Kershaw and Kuo. Kuo is a health question mark, but he's got excellent stuff and he could come in and surprise Philadelphia. Kershaw could do the job as well, but it seems like the Dodgers would be foolish not to use at least one left-handed starter against the Phillies. The edge here has to go to LA, though, particularly if we see Kershaw.
One thing that surprised me was that LA didn't use half of their pitching staff. We saw Wade, Broxton, Saito and Maddux out of the bullpen, but no Beimel, no Kershaw, no McDonald, no Park. I would expect to see more of some of the guys who didn't get playing time, so Torre can use some new tricks in the NLCS.
Outfield
Manny vs Burrell
Kemp vs Victorino
Ethier vs Werth
Manny beats Burrell, although Pat the bat is not known for his glove, he is a better hitter than Soriano. Ethier edges Werth, because he can hit for average. Kemp edges Victorino because he's got a bit more pop than the Flyin Hawaiian.
Infield
Loney vs Howard
DeWitt vs Utley
Furcal vs Rollins
Blake vs Feliz
Howard edges Loney because first base defense only matters so much. DeWitt is pretty good, but Chase Utley is one of the best players in baseball. Furcal edges Rollins, who did not deserve a single award he won last year - Furcal is the rangier shortstop that gets on base more. And Casey Blake doesn't have Pedro Feliz's glove, but Pedro Feliz doesn't get to swing his glove at the plate, even though he probably needs to to hit anything.
Carlos Ruiz has nothing on Russell Martin.
If you look at who's playing over their head, a couple players come to mind on each team still. Ethier's got that BABIP thing going, so if he's hot he's good, if not, then, um, ugh. Not much else for LA. Brad Lidge is not as good as he was this year - no way he only gives up 2 homers in 69.3 innings pitched - and only 1 at home.
I'll say Dodgers in 6 on this one.
To be fair though, the Dodgers were a better team than their record suggests. Furcal replacing Berroa is huge at short, and Brad Penny and Andruw Jones are both not on the postseason roster. Manny was not with the team all year, nor was Casey Blake. DeWitt has shown himself to be a streaky player, and currently he's on a good one. Juan Pierre has been a bench player since Manny's acquisition. Scott Proctor stopped getting the ball in key situations - now that goes to Kuo, Broxton, Wade. To be fair, Chan Ho Park gave up the long ball and should have had a higher ERA, but that's all for that part. The Cubs, on the other hand, had a couple of guys having career years - 21 homers for Mark Derosa, an effective year as a starter for Ryan Dempster, for example.
LA faces what was one of the best offenses during the regular season. But remember, they already took on the best of the regular season. And while the Dodgers pitching will be tough to beat, Philly's staff is no group of slouches. When the two teams met earlier in the season, one team was having a good streak while the other had a poor one, resulting in two four game sweeps by the home team. Let's look head to head:
Starting Pitchers (based on NLDS):
Lowe vs Hamels
Billingsley vs Myers
Moyer vs Kuroda
Blanton vs Maddux (?)
Personally I'd like to see Moyer vs Maddux, a combined 87 years old. Wild cards to start are the two left-handed K men, Kershaw and Kuo. Kuo is a health question mark, but he's got excellent stuff and he could come in and surprise Philadelphia. Kershaw could do the job as well, but it seems like the Dodgers would be foolish not to use at least one left-handed starter against the Phillies. The edge here has to go to LA, though, particularly if we see Kershaw.
One thing that surprised me was that LA didn't use half of their pitching staff. We saw Wade, Broxton, Saito and Maddux out of the bullpen, but no Beimel, no Kershaw, no McDonald, no Park. I would expect to see more of some of the guys who didn't get playing time, so Torre can use some new tricks in the NLCS.
Outfield
Manny vs Burrell
Kemp vs Victorino
Ethier vs Werth
Manny beats Burrell, although Pat the bat is not known for his glove, he is a better hitter than Soriano. Ethier edges Werth, because he can hit for average. Kemp edges Victorino because he's got a bit more pop than the Flyin Hawaiian.
Infield
Loney vs Howard
DeWitt vs Utley
Furcal vs Rollins
Blake vs Feliz
Howard edges Loney because first base defense only matters so much. DeWitt is pretty good, but Chase Utley is one of the best players in baseball. Furcal edges Rollins, who did not deserve a single award he won last year - Furcal is the rangier shortstop that gets on base more. And Casey Blake doesn't have Pedro Feliz's glove, but Pedro Feliz doesn't get to swing his glove at the plate, even though he probably needs to to hit anything.
Carlos Ruiz has nothing on Russell Martin.
If you look at who's playing over their head, a couple players come to mind on each team still. Ethier's got that BABIP thing going, so if he's hot he's good, if not, then, um, ugh. Not much else for LA. Brad Lidge is not as good as he was this year - no way he only gives up 2 homers in 69.3 innings pitched - and only 1 at home.
I'll say Dodgers in 6 on this one.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Week 1 review
So my fantasy teams are doing ok, my head to head team more than my roto league team. The Dodgers, meanwhile, are 4-2. Let's see how.
Game1: Penny vs Zito, W 5-0.
Gamescores: Penny 67, Zito 35
Zito got destroyed
Game 2: Lowe vs Cain, W 3-2
Gamescores: Lowe 50, Cain 66
Furcal scores from 2nd on a grounder to Ray Durham to win the game.
Game 3: Kuo vs Valdez, L 1-2
Gamescores: Kuo 57, Valdez 60
Rain delays scratch Billingsley vs Lincecum, although both appear in relief.
Game 4: Kuroda vs Germano, W 7-1
Gamescores: Kuroda 71, Germano 67
Kuroda goes 7 on 77 pitches, Dodger offense comes alive
Game 5: Penny vs Peavy, L 1-4
Gamescores: Penny 38, Peavy 86
Doesn't that say it all? Peavy goes the distance allowing two hits.
Game 6: Lowe vs Young, W 3-2
Lowe 61, Young 64
Guess Hu beat Hoffman?
The Dodger bullpen was really the unsung hero. The offense didn't do a whole lot, and the starters were outdone for the most part.
Game1: Penny vs Zito, W 5-0.
Gamescores: Penny 67, Zito 35
Zito got destroyed
Game 2: Lowe vs Cain, W 3-2
Gamescores: Lowe 50, Cain 66
Furcal scores from 2nd on a grounder to Ray Durham to win the game.
Game 3: Kuo vs Valdez, L 1-2
Gamescores: Kuo 57, Valdez 60
Rain delays scratch Billingsley vs Lincecum, although both appear in relief.
Game 4: Kuroda vs Germano, W 7-1
Gamescores: Kuroda 71, Germano 67
Kuroda goes 7 on 77 pitches, Dodger offense comes alive
Game 5: Penny vs Peavy, L 1-4
Gamescores: Penny 38, Peavy 86
Doesn't that say it all? Peavy goes the distance allowing two hits.
Game 6: Lowe vs Young, W 3-2
Lowe 61, Young 64
Guess Hu beat Hoffman?
The Dodger bullpen was really the unsung hero. The offense didn't do a whole lot, and the starters were outdone for the most part.
Monday, February 18, 2008
The only thing dumber than pre-season predictions
Is a Bill Plaschke column. Especially when he gives good players a hard time.
What seemed like clubhouse defiance is now calm confidence.
That deer-in-the-headlights look has become an unfettered focus.
That is the ADD style of Plaschke. defiance does not match with deer-in-headlights. That would me more like Jeff Kent, who is a very old man. Or Grady Little, who is gone now.
Besides, Chad Billingsley is the one from Defiance (OH).
Matt Kemp will pay his own way?
The Dodgers' season depends on it.
Their unwillingness to deal him prevented them from obtaining this winter's top traded pitchers -- Johan Santana, Erik Bedard or Dan Haren.
No, those packages all took like 5 players each. Santana also came with a $140 million extention. Seattle gave up essentially Kemp, Beimel, Greg Miller, and two top A+ ball pitchers, to give the Dodger equivalent. Besides, the Dodgers don't have that great a weakness in starting pitching. They need an offense. They scored 85 fewer runs in 2007 than 2006. 85! That's half a run a game. Adding a single pitcher won't bring the team ERA down by .5 unless he posts an ERA of like 1 for 200 innings.
The Dodgers believe that by keeping his cannon in the middle of their lineup, Kemp would blow enough smoke to shroud the hole at the top of their rotation.
What? Here's the top of the Dodgers' rotation last year:
Penny - 151 ERA+, 33 GS
Billingsley - 138 ERA+, 20 GS
Lowe - 118 ERA +, 32 GS
Here's where the decent starters were
Randy Wolf - 97 ERA+, 18GS
There were 59 games started by other starters. Two other starters at an ERA+ of 100 would have been an improvement, but no dice. No other starter pitched as well. Hiroki Kuroda could stay healthy and have a 4.5 ERA and that would help the rotation a lot. Loaiza and David Wells sucked.
Now Matt Kemp has to save the season.
No. Now Joe Torre has to play the right players (bench Nomar and Pierre for LaRoche and Ethier), Ned Colletti has to put the right players on the roster (Kershaw, McDondald, Wade, LaRoche), and Rafael Furcal has to hit for his career averages (ie SLG more than 400).
He can save it with his bat, capable of at least 20 home runs, at least 80 runs batted in, at least an on-base percentage in the mid-.300s.
He can save it with his arm, which is right-field strong, and his feet, which are 20 stolen-bases fast.
Who told Plaschke about OBP? And seriously, mid .300s? That's a huge variation, from like .330 to .370. Kemp can definitely help with his ability. This is true. It is also obvious. What else does Plaschke suggest? He's got a list, so I'll number them.
(1) Will he show up at the park early for extra work? (2) Will he stay late for interviews? (3) Will he win the praise of veterans who will judge him as much on his hustled groundouts as on his home runs?
Question 1 migh be relevant, especially if he works on something useful like recognizing pitches out of the zone. The 2nd one is entirely irrelevant, and Plaschke needs to realize he isn't helping the team by being a columnist, but that's not his job. The 3rd one doesn't matter, it's just a question of how much of an asshole Jeff Kent will be.
The veterans thought the kids didn't respect winning. They thought they didn't respect the game.
The veterans quietly complained about everything from late clubhouse arrivals to dumb baserunning errors to smiles after losses.
Jeff Kent doesn't smile after a win. What the hell. Taking losses in stride and not getting bogged down? Making the same mistakes veterans make? What jerks.
What seemed like clubhouse defiance is now calm confidence.
That deer-in-the-headlights look has become an unfettered focus.
That is the ADD style of Plaschke. defiance does not match with deer-in-headlights. That would me more like Jeff Kent, who is a very old man. Or Grady Little, who is gone now.
Besides, Chad Billingsley is the one from Defiance (OH).
Matt Kemp will pay his own way?
The Dodgers' season depends on it.
Their unwillingness to deal him prevented them from obtaining this winter's top traded pitchers -- Johan Santana, Erik Bedard or Dan Haren.
No, those packages all took like 5 players each. Santana also came with a $140 million extention. Seattle gave up essentially Kemp, Beimel, Greg Miller, and two top A+ ball pitchers, to give the Dodger equivalent. Besides, the Dodgers don't have that great a weakness in starting pitching. They need an offense. They scored 85 fewer runs in 2007 than 2006. 85! That's half a run a game. Adding a single pitcher won't bring the team ERA down by .5 unless he posts an ERA of like 1 for 200 innings.
The Dodgers believe that by keeping his cannon in the middle of their lineup, Kemp would blow enough smoke to shroud the hole at the top of their rotation.
What? Here's the top of the Dodgers' rotation last year:
Penny - 151 ERA+, 33 GS
Billingsley - 138 ERA+, 20 GS
Lowe - 118 ERA +, 32 GS
Here's where the decent starters were
Randy Wolf - 97 ERA+, 18GS
There were 59 games started by other starters. Two other starters at an ERA+ of 100 would have been an improvement, but no dice. No other starter pitched as well. Hiroki Kuroda could stay healthy and have a 4.5 ERA and that would help the rotation a lot. Loaiza and David Wells sucked.
Now Matt Kemp has to save the season.
No. Now Joe Torre has to play the right players (bench Nomar and Pierre for LaRoche and Ethier), Ned Colletti has to put the right players on the roster (Kershaw, McDondald, Wade, LaRoche), and Rafael Furcal has to hit for his career averages (ie SLG more than 400).
He can save it with his bat, capable of at least 20 home runs, at least 80 runs batted in, at least an on-base percentage in the mid-.300s.
He can save it with his arm, which is right-field strong, and his feet, which are 20 stolen-bases fast.
Who told Plaschke about OBP? And seriously, mid .300s? That's a huge variation, from like .330 to .370. Kemp can definitely help with his ability. This is true. It is also obvious. What else does Plaschke suggest? He's got a list, so I'll number them.
(1) Will he show up at the park early for extra work? (2) Will he stay late for interviews? (3) Will he win the praise of veterans who will judge him as much on his hustled groundouts as on his home runs?
Question 1 migh be relevant, especially if he works on something useful like recognizing pitches out of the zone. The 2nd one is entirely irrelevant, and Plaschke needs to realize he isn't helping the team by being a columnist, but that's not his job. The 3rd one doesn't matter, it's just a question of how much of an asshole Jeff Kent will be.
The veterans thought the kids didn't respect winning. They thought they didn't respect the game.
The veterans quietly complained about everything from late clubhouse arrivals to dumb baserunning errors to smiles after losses.
Jeff Kent doesn't smile after a win. What the hell. Taking losses in stride and not getting bogged down? Making the same mistakes veterans make? What jerks.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Dodgers Year in Review 2007 - Pitching
For the starting rotation, you can categorize the pitchers in the following (ERA for that particular role):
Good Starters (518.3 IP, 85 GS)
Brad Penny (3.03 ERA) - helped most by allowing very few home runs (only 9), although his other peripheral stats (135K and 73BB in 208 IP) don't shine that much. Penny may very well regress a bit next year, but he has been more efficient, which may help that homer rate.
Derek Lowe (3.90 ERA)- tough luck year for Lowe, who went 12-14 with a 3.88 ERA, a weird record for a 118 ERA+. Lowe's sinker was sinking, his k rate was decent too. The big story was that he got injured for the first time in his career this year, and he might be getting a bit old.
Chad Billingsley (3.38 ERA) - in his age 22 season, Billingsley put up a 138 ERA+ in 147 innings. His three true outcome numbers all seemed to worsen a bit when he was put in the starter role, although his K rate remained good, and could reasonably be expected to improve in 2008.
Banged-up Starters (156.3 IP, 30 GS)
Jason Schmidt (6.31 ERA) - shoulder problems ended his season early, and affected his performance horribly. It is unclear what he will do in 2008.
Hong-Chi Kuo (6.75 ERA) - or Guo, to some people. Flashes of brilliance and a really awesome bat flip cannot change the fact that this Taiwanese lefthander is a constant injury risk with a history of elbow problems.
Randy Wolf (4.73 ERA) - sadly he came back from injury only to be injured again. When he was starting, though, he was generally good until he started to get hurt, as one can ascertain from his 94K in 102 IP. Nice curve, though.
Forgettable (242.3 IP, 47 GS)
Brett Tomko (5.56 ERA) - finally got released. He started 15 games for the Dodgers, and posted a 79 ERA+. Good riddance, although we'll miss his paintings.
Mark Hendrickson (6.13 ERA) - slightly better than Tomko. And taller. And left handed. But still, Hendrickson sucked and started 15 games.
Esteban Loaiza (8.34 ERA) - we bail out Billy Beane and pick him up off waivers. He really sucked and should go to the bullpen if he's even on the team. Big waste of money by Ned.
David Wells (5.12 ERA) - fat fat fatty. Nothing special as a pitcher, but made us all laugh by bunting his way on base.
Eric Stults (5.68 ERA) - an option down in AAA, but not one you would really depend on regularly.
Essentially, the Dodgers had 3 good starters and a lot of bad ones. If Kuroda can put up at least a 4.5 ERA and Schmidt can make 20 healthy starts, the rotation should be quite solid.
Bullpen
Didn't know you were here
Derek Lowe um yeah, he's a starter
Yhency Brazoban - the new dreifort
Hong-Chi Kuo - he should be a starter, when he's healthy
Eric Hull - not bad in a brief stint
Jon Meloan - didn't impress in the majors in a brief stint, but he's still young
Eric Stults - not really impressive here, but didn't do much out of the pen
Blah
Brett Tomko - Tomko sucked out of the pen too. He was decent in this role last year, but his failure here forced Colletti to release him.
Roberto Hernandez - what the hell? The dude is 40 and bad.
A List
Saito - awesome, awesome, awesome. Will make you believe closers matter again.
Broxton - A great pitcher at the back of the pen, and will be a great closer himself someday.
Billingsley - earned a promotion by being lights out in the pen
A-/B+ List
Beimel - Beimel continued to be a great piece to have in the bullpen, useful against lefthanders or righthanders, as a lefty relief pitcher should be.
Proctor - not bad, I'll admit. While I don't think he was worth Betemit, he still makes the bullpen a lot deeper.
Hendrickson - surprisingly effective as a reliever, including a K/BB over 4. As long as he doesn't insist on starting, he should be good.
Seanez - a surprise this year, pitching quite effectively at age 38 or so.
Houlton - not bad, but don't expect him to be a regular reliever.
Tsao - were it not for the injury, would be in the A list. Retired 24 straight batters or something and was phenomenal to start the season.
Good Starters (518.3 IP, 85 GS)
Brad Penny (3.03 ERA) - helped most by allowing very few home runs (only 9), although his other peripheral stats (135K and 73BB in 208 IP) don't shine that much. Penny may very well regress a bit next year, but he has been more efficient, which may help that homer rate.
Derek Lowe (3.90 ERA)- tough luck year for Lowe, who went 12-14 with a 3.88 ERA, a weird record for a 118 ERA+. Lowe's sinker was sinking, his k rate was decent too. The big story was that he got injured for the first time in his career this year, and he might be getting a bit old.
Chad Billingsley (3.38 ERA) - in his age 22 season, Billingsley put up a 138 ERA+ in 147 innings. His three true outcome numbers all seemed to worsen a bit when he was put in the starter role, although his K rate remained good, and could reasonably be expected to improve in 2008.
Banged-up Starters (156.3 IP, 30 GS)
Jason Schmidt (6.31 ERA) - shoulder problems ended his season early, and affected his performance horribly. It is unclear what he will do in 2008.
Hong-Chi Kuo (6.75 ERA) - or Guo, to some people. Flashes of brilliance and a really awesome bat flip cannot change the fact that this Taiwanese lefthander is a constant injury risk with a history of elbow problems.
Randy Wolf (4.73 ERA) - sadly he came back from injury only to be injured again. When he was starting, though, he was generally good until he started to get hurt, as one can ascertain from his 94K in 102 IP. Nice curve, though.
Forgettable (242.3 IP, 47 GS)
Brett Tomko (5.56 ERA) - finally got released. He started 15 games for the Dodgers, and posted a 79 ERA+. Good riddance, although we'll miss his paintings.
Mark Hendrickson (6.13 ERA) - slightly better than Tomko. And taller. And left handed. But still, Hendrickson sucked and started 15 games.
Esteban Loaiza (8.34 ERA) - we bail out Billy Beane and pick him up off waivers. He really sucked and should go to the bullpen if he's even on the team. Big waste of money by Ned.
David Wells (5.12 ERA) - fat fat fatty. Nothing special as a pitcher, but made us all laugh by bunting his way on base.
Eric Stults (5.68 ERA) - an option down in AAA, but not one you would really depend on regularly.
Essentially, the Dodgers had 3 good starters and a lot of bad ones. If Kuroda can put up at least a 4.5 ERA and Schmidt can make 20 healthy starts, the rotation should be quite solid.
Bullpen
Didn't know you were here
Derek Lowe um yeah, he's a starter
Yhency Brazoban - the new dreifort
Hong-Chi Kuo - he should be a starter, when he's healthy
Eric Hull - not bad in a brief stint
Jon Meloan - didn't impress in the majors in a brief stint, but he's still young
Eric Stults - not really impressive here, but didn't do much out of the pen
Blah
Brett Tomko - Tomko sucked out of the pen too. He was decent in this role last year, but his failure here forced Colletti to release him.
Roberto Hernandez - what the hell? The dude is 40 and bad.
A List
Saito - awesome, awesome, awesome. Will make you believe closers matter again.
Broxton - A great pitcher at the back of the pen, and will be a great closer himself someday.
Billingsley - earned a promotion by being lights out in the pen
A-/B+ List
Beimel - Beimel continued to be a great piece to have in the bullpen, useful against lefthanders or righthanders, as a lefty relief pitcher should be.
Proctor - not bad, I'll admit. While I don't think he was worth Betemit, he still makes the bullpen a lot deeper.
Hendrickson - surprisingly effective as a reliever, including a K/BB over 4. As long as he doesn't insist on starting, he should be good.
Seanez - a surprise this year, pitching quite effectively at age 38 or so.
Houlton - not bad, but don't expect him to be a regular reliever.
Tsao - were it not for the injury, would be in the A list. Retired 24 straight batters or something and was phenomenal to start the season.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Year in Review, Hitters
Catcher
Russell Martin - 540 AB, .293/.374/.469, 19 HR, 21 SB-9 CS, 113 OPS+, .285 EqA, 8.0 Warp1
Mike Lieberthal - 77 AB, .234/.280/.260, 0 HR, 0-0 SB-CS, 39 OPS+, .181 EqA, -0.1 Warp1
Chad Moeller - 8 AB, .125/.222/.125, 0 HR, 0-0 SB-CS, -8 OPS+, 0 Warp1
Martin is clearly awesome. Lieberthal is not worth paying a million dollars; might as well get the replacement level performance out of Moeller.
First Base
James Loney - 344 AB, .331/.381/.538, 15 HR, 0-1 SB-CS, 131 OPS+, .302 EqA, 3.0 Warp1
Nomar Garciaparra - 431 AB, .283/.328/.371, 7 HR, 3-1 SB-CS, 78 OPS+, .242 EqA, 0.4 Warp1
Olmedo Saenz - 110 AB, .191/.295/.345, 4 HR, 0-0 SB-CS, 63 OPS+, .227 EqA, -.2 Warp1
Mark Sweeney - 33 AB, .273/.294/.303, 0 HR, 0-0 SB-CS, 53 OPS+, .201 EqA, -.1 Warp1
Marlon Anderson - 26 AB, .231/.310/.231, 0 HR, 0-0 SB-CS, 41 OPS+, .202 EqA, -.1 Warp1
Loney will be the full time first baseman, which will be a good thing. Olmedo and Sweeney should both be gone, and Nomar will have to prove his worth to get any playing time on the field. Or at least, he should. And Marlon Anderson's run must end, but it was nice knowing him.
Second Base
Jeff Kent - 494 AB, .302/.375/.500, 20 HR, 1-3 SB-CS, 121 OPS+, .291 EqA, 5.3 Warp1
Tony Abreu - 166 AB, .271/.309/.404, 2 HR, 0-0 SB-CS, 80 OPS+, .242 EqA, 1.3 Warp1
Ramon Martinez - 129 AB, .194/.248/.225, 1 HR, 0-0 SB-CS, 22 OPS+, .168 EqA, -0.5 Warp1
Wilson Valdez - 74 AB, .216/.263/.270, 0 HR, 1-0 SB-CS, 36 OPS+, .182 EqA, 0.2 Warp1
Tony Abreu should be a backup 2b or late inning replacement for Kent. Even if he's only getting about 200 AB, he'd be a much more useful pinch hitter and part time player than Martinez or Valdez. Jeff Kent looks like he'll still be the best option at 2nd, provided he's not traded or retired, although his age is starting to catch up with him.
Third Base
Wilson Betemit - 156 AB, .231/.359/.474, 10 HR, 0-0 SB-CS, 110 OPS+, .282 EqA, 1.3 Warp1
Andy La Roche - 93 AB, .223/.365/.312, 1 HR, 2-1 SB-CS, 75 OPS+, .249 EqA, 0.6 Warp1
Shea Hillenbrand - 70 AB, .243/.257/.343, 1 HR, 0-1 SB-CS, 51 OPS+, .199 EqA, 0.0 Warp1
WHY!!! WHY DID THEY HAVE TO TRADE BETEMIT?! And this is why LA is in the hunt for A-Rod. LaRoche, who's been having a hard time translating his power to the majors has shown great patience, but it is doubtful management will do the same with him. He's a better option now than Nomar, though. But Hillenbrand's presence on this list is the worst effect of the Betemit trade.
Shortstop
Raffy Furcal - 581 AB, .270/.333/.355, 6 HR, 25-6 SB-CS, 76 OPS+, .244 EqA, 5.0 Warp1
Chin-Lung Hu - 29 HR, .241/.241/.517, 2 HR, 0-0 SB-CS, 86 OPS+, .244 EqA, 0.3 Warp1
Even with his down year at the bat, Furcal is among the best defensive shortstops in the game. Hu looks quite promising though, which makes renewing Furcal unlikely.
Left Field
Luis Gonzalez - 464 AB, .278/.359/.433, 15 HR, 6-2 SB-CS, 101 OPS+, .271 EqA, 3.3 Warp1
Brady Clark - 58 AB, .224/.308/.293, 0 HR, 1-2 SB-CS, 55 OPS+, .206 EqA, -0.3 Warp1
Delwyn Young - 34 AB, .382/.417/.647, 2 HR, 1-0 SB-CS, 166 OPS+, .342 EqA, 0.5 Warp1
Young was a pleasant surprise in this category. Gonzo did his job, but now it's time for him to go. Brady Clark, we hardly knew ye, and then we saw you in that last game against Colorado and knew we made the right choice.
Center Field
Juan Pierre - 668 AB, .293/.331/.353, 0 HR, 64-15 SB-CS, 75 OPS+, .249 EqA, 2.6 Warp1
Oh, Juan. Well, he seemed to pick up his game offensively and defensively toward the end. He's got such a long history though of being just a 2nd half player. If he could string together a .308/.356/.373 line (his 2007 2nd half), I could live with that. What gets me is that he has occasional bits of doing what he should, where he fouls off a ton of pitches to force a walk. Then he led the NL in sac bunts - completely unnecessary, and much of that a result of attempted bunting for base hits that failed. I'm pretty sure he'll decline more - this was his first year without at least 1 homer, and only one of his 10 career home runs was inside the park.
Right Field
Andre Ethier - 447 AB, .284/.350/.452, 13 HR, 0-4 SB-CS, 103 OPS+, .270 EqA, 4.4 Warp1
Matt Kemp - 292 AB, .342/.373/.521, 10 HR, 10-5 SB-CS, 125 OPS+, .294 EqA, 2.8 Warp1
Good and good. Give each 550 AB, and they will be productive. As a matter of fact, if you ignore Ethier's April, he hit .291/.366/.451, and either way compares favorably to JD Drew. Kemp could do some serious damage if given more playing time, although he still needs to develop his patience further. Ideally, next year will feature Kemp and Ethier both in the outfield.
Russell Martin - 540 AB, .293/.374/.469, 19 HR, 21 SB-9 CS, 113 OPS+, .285 EqA, 8.0 Warp1
Mike Lieberthal - 77 AB, .234/.280/.260, 0 HR, 0-0 SB-CS, 39 OPS+, .181 EqA, -0.1 Warp1
Chad Moeller - 8 AB, .125/.222/.125, 0 HR, 0-0 SB-CS, -8 OPS+, 0 Warp1
Martin is clearly awesome. Lieberthal is not worth paying a million dollars; might as well get the replacement level performance out of Moeller.
First Base
James Loney - 344 AB, .331/.381/.538, 15 HR, 0-1 SB-CS, 131 OPS+, .302 EqA, 3.0 Warp1
Nomar Garciaparra - 431 AB, .283/.328/.371, 7 HR, 3-1 SB-CS, 78 OPS+, .242 EqA, 0.4 Warp1
Olmedo Saenz - 110 AB, .191/.295/.345, 4 HR, 0-0 SB-CS, 63 OPS+, .227 EqA, -.2 Warp1
Mark Sweeney - 33 AB, .273/.294/.303, 0 HR, 0-0 SB-CS, 53 OPS+, .201 EqA, -.1 Warp1
Marlon Anderson - 26 AB, .231/.310/.231, 0 HR, 0-0 SB-CS, 41 OPS+, .202 EqA, -.1 Warp1
Loney will be the full time first baseman, which will be a good thing. Olmedo and Sweeney should both be gone, and Nomar will have to prove his worth to get any playing time on the field. Or at least, he should. And Marlon Anderson's run must end, but it was nice knowing him.
Second Base
Jeff Kent - 494 AB, .302/.375/.500, 20 HR, 1-3 SB-CS, 121 OPS+, .291 EqA, 5.3 Warp1
Tony Abreu - 166 AB, .271/.309/.404, 2 HR, 0-0 SB-CS, 80 OPS+, .242 EqA, 1.3 Warp1
Ramon Martinez - 129 AB, .194/.248/.225, 1 HR, 0-0 SB-CS, 22 OPS+, .168 EqA, -0.5 Warp1
Wilson Valdez - 74 AB, .216/.263/.270, 0 HR, 1-0 SB-CS, 36 OPS+, .182 EqA, 0.2 Warp1
Tony Abreu should be a backup 2b or late inning replacement for Kent. Even if he's only getting about 200 AB, he'd be a much more useful pinch hitter and part time player than Martinez or Valdez. Jeff Kent looks like he'll still be the best option at 2nd, provided he's not traded or retired, although his age is starting to catch up with him.
Third Base
Wilson Betemit - 156 AB, .231/.359/.474, 10 HR, 0-0 SB-CS, 110 OPS+, .282 EqA, 1.3 Warp1
Andy La Roche - 93 AB, .223/.365/.312, 1 HR, 2-1 SB-CS, 75 OPS+, .249 EqA, 0.6 Warp1
Shea Hillenbrand - 70 AB, .243/.257/.343, 1 HR, 0-1 SB-CS, 51 OPS+, .199 EqA, 0.0 Warp1
WHY!!! WHY DID THEY HAVE TO TRADE BETEMIT?! And this is why LA is in the hunt for A-Rod. LaRoche, who's been having a hard time translating his power to the majors has shown great patience, but it is doubtful management will do the same with him. He's a better option now than Nomar, though. But Hillenbrand's presence on this list is the worst effect of the Betemit trade.
Shortstop
Raffy Furcal - 581 AB, .270/.333/.355, 6 HR, 25-6 SB-CS, 76 OPS+, .244 EqA, 5.0 Warp1
Chin-Lung Hu - 29 HR, .241/.241/.517, 2 HR, 0-0 SB-CS, 86 OPS+, .244 EqA, 0.3 Warp1
Even with his down year at the bat, Furcal is among the best defensive shortstops in the game. Hu looks quite promising though, which makes renewing Furcal unlikely.
Left Field
Luis Gonzalez - 464 AB, .278/.359/.433, 15 HR, 6-2 SB-CS, 101 OPS+, .271 EqA, 3.3 Warp1
Brady Clark - 58 AB, .224/.308/.293, 0 HR, 1-2 SB-CS, 55 OPS+, .206 EqA, -0.3 Warp1
Delwyn Young - 34 AB, .382/.417/.647, 2 HR, 1-0 SB-CS, 166 OPS+, .342 EqA, 0.5 Warp1
Young was a pleasant surprise in this category. Gonzo did his job, but now it's time for him to go. Brady Clark, we hardly knew ye, and then we saw you in that last game against Colorado and knew we made the right choice.
Center Field
Juan Pierre - 668 AB, .293/.331/.353, 0 HR, 64-15 SB-CS, 75 OPS+, .249 EqA, 2.6 Warp1
Oh, Juan. Well, he seemed to pick up his game offensively and defensively toward the end. He's got such a long history though of being just a 2nd half player. If he could string together a .308/.356/.373 line (his 2007 2nd half), I could live with that. What gets me is that he has occasional bits of doing what he should, where he fouls off a ton of pitches to force a walk. Then he led the NL in sac bunts - completely unnecessary, and much of that a result of attempted bunting for base hits that failed. I'm pretty sure he'll decline more - this was his first year without at least 1 homer, and only one of his 10 career home runs was inside the park.
Right Field
Andre Ethier - 447 AB, .284/.350/.452, 13 HR, 0-4 SB-CS, 103 OPS+, .270 EqA, 4.4 Warp1
Matt Kemp - 292 AB, .342/.373/.521, 10 HR, 10-5 SB-CS, 125 OPS+, .294 EqA, 2.8 Warp1
Good and good. Give each 550 AB, and they will be productive. As a matter of fact, if you ignore Ethier's April, he hit .291/.366/.451, and either way compares favorably to JD Drew. Kemp could do some serious damage if given more playing time, although he still needs to develop his patience further. Ideally, next year will feature Kemp and Ethier both in the outfield.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
What went wrong
MSNBC, the TV network that brought you Don Imus, has more dumbasses to spew out garbage. Here is Michael Ventre:
The Dodgers have been out of the NL wild card race for some time now, even though they have yet to make it official. It’s like knowing that somebody is quitting a job soon, because they’ve been packing up their belongings, taking three-hour lunches and generally slacking off. All that’s missing is the memo.
As a matter of fact, they were in the race until their rotation collapsed after Randy Wolf joined the esteemed group of veterans on the Disabled List, they traded a useful young power hitter for a 30 year old middle reliever and were then forced to rely on Shea Hillenbrand as an everyday third baseman, a position at which no other team in baseball would even think of playing him because of his demonstrated inability.
This “geezer-punk” assemblage has lost five in a row at a time when the San Diego Padres, making a run at the division title, have won seven straight. The Dodgers just suffered their first-ever four-game sweep by the Rockets at Coors Field. So naturally, the already cranky tricenarians and quadragenarians who creak around the clubhouse in search of their lost youth are becoming more cantankerous by the minute.
They lost like 12 in a row last year. Streaks happen in baseball over a 162 game season, especially when you have to rely on Esteban Loaiza and David Wells in your rotation. Besides, doesn't this just suggest that the veterans are assholes?
Most of the responsibility for winning has been entrusted to kids who haven’t yet learned how to win. In the context of a competitive division that includes the likes of the Diamondbacks, Padres and Rockies, that’s almost like conceding defeat in spring training.
This is among the goddamn stupidest things I've read. For two reasons:
1) The Dodgers' minor league system is very good. As a matter of fact, the Dodgers won the AA championship in 2005 with many of these players.
2) "Knowing how to win" is a worthless empty bullshit phrase used by reporters who don't know a goddamned thing about baseball. It's easy to know how to win: you score more runs than the other team! End of story!
3) The Diamondbacks have been winning with a bunch of young kids, quite successfully. Randy Johnson started 10 games for them. And even then, they have given up more runs than they've scored, and they should really have a losing record.
These players know how to play baseball. They would not have been drafted if they didn't. You are a worthless human being.
The Dodgers received some early love from pundits as division winners on the basis of their starters. But they’ve been spotty, the bullpen has faltered, and the sticks have been wildly erratic. It isn’t one statistical category that has caused the team’s downfall, but rather those “things you don’t see in the box scores,” especially team chemistry. More often than not, these have been dead men walking.
Nice. Claim that whatever is going on cannot be measured, therefore bringing you into the realm of the irrational where you cannot be disproven.
Now call me a stupid kid, because I'm a senior in college on scholarship double majoring in Math and Economics, but there are statistical reasons for the Dodgers' problems:
Slugging percentage: .404 (14th of 16 in the NL)
Caught Stealing: 47 (most in NL!)
HR: 121 (15th of 16 in the NL)
Walks: 492 (12th of 16 in the NL)
Last year, as a team, the Dodgers were 3rd in the NL in walks, ending the year with 601. The odds of the Dodgers racking up 109 walks in 7 games are, well, 0. But even with the same power problems and virtually the same team batting average, they at least slugged .432 as a team. Let's look at some other problems
Rafael Furcal 2006: .300/.369/.445 (good numbers)
Rafael Furcal 2007: .270/.333/.355 (bad numbers!)
Nomar 2006: .303/.367/.505 (good 3-hitter numbers)
Nomar 2007: .284/.329/.372 (bad 8-hitter numbers)
So in addition to $20 million worth of payroll playing worse than the previous year, the Dodgers were dead men not walking. Hahaha. I'm a writer now too!
The recent dustups caused by Lowe and Kent, as well as a recent complaint by Gonzalez that he can “see the handwriting on the wall” and therefore doesn’t expect to be back next season, and some anonymous chatter that manager Grady Little has lost his players, only underlines the reality that tension exists.
Luis Gonzalez was signed to be a stopgap veteran because Matt Kemp was believed by management to need some seasoning in the minors. It was apparent by May that Gonzalez was not necessary on the Dodgers.
The McCourts have gone the cheapie route, and in doing so, they’ve created a team with no real identity and a hazy future.
This is incredibly stupid. The Dodgers have the 2nd highest payroll in the NL, behind the Mets. Also, the Cleveland Indians have a $61 million payroll, and they just clinched a playoff spot today. As for an identity, how about their all-star catcher Russell Martin? Ever heard of him? Dumbass.
It wouldn’t be so bad if such an approach bore fruit, but it hasn’t. The Angels have worked kids like Howie Kendrick, Reggie Willits, Casey Kotchman and Maicer Izturis into their plans, but they’ve managed to amass a giant lead over second-place Seattle in the AL West. They did that by building a superior pitching staff, and by making sure that the veterans who are at the heart of the lineup – Orlando Cabrera, Vladimir Guerrero, Garret Anderson, Gary Matthews, Jr. – are all at or near their primes. The Dodgers, conversely, populate their roster with fantasy league scraps.
This is also hilarious. The Angels pitching success has been due to young pitchers through their farm system. Bartolo Colon had one good year in Anaheim. Further, Anaheim took some time to be successful - they've basically been rebuilding since 2004, after they followed their WS title with a losing season. Orlando Cabrera is an average hitter, as is Matthews. You can see some numbers here, like the ages of players on their pitching staff, many of whom came up through their farm system.
And again, it takes time for a farm system to develop. The Dodgers did not have a good system or good drafts until 2002 turned things around. It wasn't until last year that those players came up into the majors, because White drafts high school and junior college players. Further, these players have several years before reaching their physical peak, so there is that to consider as well.
The coming weeks will tell a lot about the direction of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Right now they’re going down. That’s clear. But will Kent stick around next year (he has that option)? If he does, will the Dodgers get him some experienced help so he can realistically go after that elusive World Series ring? Or will it be more of “Daddy Day Care”?
Jeff Kent is not anyone the Dodgers desperately need. He is far more of a drain on the Dodgers defensively than Nomar was in Boston. He makes stupid baserunning mistakes, and can't run that well either. Kent is really best suited to being a 1b/dh right now, and if he wants a title, he should go to the Yankees. The Dodgers' young players are not as good as they will be, but they need to play regularly, and getting players like Kent out of the way will go a long way in helping that.
The Dodgers have been out of the NL wild card race for some time now, even though they have yet to make it official. It’s like knowing that somebody is quitting a job soon, because they’ve been packing up their belongings, taking three-hour lunches and generally slacking off. All that’s missing is the memo.
As a matter of fact, they were in the race until their rotation collapsed after Randy Wolf joined the esteemed group of veterans on the Disabled List, they traded a useful young power hitter for a 30 year old middle reliever and were then forced to rely on Shea Hillenbrand as an everyday third baseman, a position at which no other team in baseball would even think of playing him because of his demonstrated inability.
This “geezer-punk” assemblage has lost five in a row at a time when the San Diego Padres, making a run at the division title, have won seven straight. The Dodgers just suffered their first-ever four-game sweep by the Rockets at Coors Field. So naturally, the already cranky tricenarians and quadragenarians who creak around the clubhouse in search of their lost youth are becoming more cantankerous by the minute.
They lost like 12 in a row last year. Streaks happen in baseball over a 162 game season, especially when you have to rely on Esteban Loaiza and David Wells in your rotation. Besides, doesn't this just suggest that the veterans are assholes?
Most of the responsibility for winning has been entrusted to kids who haven’t yet learned how to win. In the context of a competitive division that includes the likes of the Diamondbacks, Padres and Rockies, that’s almost like conceding defeat in spring training.
This is among the goddamn stupidest things I've read. For two reasons:
1) The Dodgers' minor league system is very good. As a matter of fact, the Dodgers won the AA championship in 2005 with many of these players.
2) "Knowing how to win" is a worthless empty bullshit phrase used by reporters who don't know a goddamned thing about baseball. It's easy to know how to win: you score more runs than the other team! End of story!
3) The Diamondbacks have been winning with a bunch of young kids, quite successfully. Randy Johnson started 10 games for them. And even then, they have given up more runs than they've scored, and they should really have a losing record.
These players know how to play baseball. They would not have been drafted if they didn't. You are a worthless human being.
The Dodgers received some early love from pundits as division winners on the basis of their starters. But they’ve been spotty, the bullpen has faltered, and the sticks have been wildly erratic. It isn’t one statistical category that has caused the team’s downfall, but rather those “things you don’t see in the box scores,” especially team chemistry. More often than not, these have been dead men walking.
Nice. Claim that whatever is going on cannot be measured, therefore bringing you into the realm of the irrational where you cannot be disproven.
Now call me a stupid kid, because I'm a senior in college on scholarship double majoring in Math and Economics, but there are statistical reasons for the Dodgers' problems:
Slugging percentage: .404 (14th of 16 in the NL)
Caught Stealing: 47 (most in NL!)
HR: 121 (15th of 16 in the NL)
Walks: 492 (12th of 16 in the NL)
Last year, as a team, the Dodgers were 3rd in the NL in walks, ending the year with 601. The odds of the Dodgers racking up 109 walks in 7 games are, well, 0. But even with the same power problems and virtually the same team batting average, they at least slugged .432 as a team. Let's look at some other problems
Rafael Furcal 2006: .300/.369/.445 (good numbers)
Rafael Furcal 2007: .270/.333/.355 (bad numbers!)
Nomar 2006: .303/.367/.505 (good 3-hitter numbers)
Nomar 2007: .284/.329/.372 (bad 8-hitter numbers)
So in addition to $20 million worth of payroll playing worse than the previous year, the Dodgers were dead men not walking. Hahaha. I'm a writer now too!
The recent dustups caused by Lowe and Kent, as well as a recent complaint by Gonzalez that he can “see the handwriting on the wall” and therefore doesn’t expect to be back next season, and some anonymous chatter that manager Grady Little has lost his players, only underlines the reality that tension exists.
Luis Gonzalez was signed to be a stopgap veteran because Matt Kemp was believed by management to need some seasoning in the minors. It was apparent by May that Gonzalez was not necessary on the Dodgers.
The McCourts have gone the cheapie route, and in doing so, they’ve created a team with no real identity and a hazy future.
This is incredibly stupid. The Dodgers have the 2nd highest payroll in the NL, behind the Mets. Also, the Cleveland Indians have a $61 million payroll, and they just clinched a playoff spot today. As for an identity, how about their all-star catcher Russell Martin? Ever heard of him? Dumbass.
It wouldn’t be so bad if such an approach bore fruit, but it hasn’t. The Angels have worked kids like Howie Kendrick, Reggie Willits, Casey Kotchman and Maicer Izturis into their plans, but they’ve managed to amass a giant lead over second-place Seattle in the AL West. They did that by building a superior pitching staff, and by making sure that the veterans who are at the heart of the lineup – Orlando Cabrera, Vladimir Guerrero, Garret Anderson, Gary Matthews, Jr. – are all at or near their primes. The Dodgers, conversely, populate their roster with fantasy league scraps.
This is also hilarious. The Angels pitching success has been due to young pitchers through their farm system. Bartolo Colon had one good year in Anaheim. Further, Anaheim took some time to be successful - they've basically been rebuilding since 2004, after they followed their WS title with a losing season. Orlando Cabrera is an average hitter, as is Matthews. You can see some numbers here, like the ages of players on their pitching staff, many of whom came up through their farm system.
And again, it takes time for a farm system to develop. The Dodgers did not have a good system or good drafts until 2002 turned things around. It wasn't until last year that those players came up into the majors, because White drafts high school and junior college players. Further, these players have several years before reaching their physical peak, so there is that to consider as well.
The coming weeks will tell a lot about the direction of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Right now they’re going down. That’s clear. But will Kent stick around next year (he has that option)? If he does, will the Dodgers get him some experienced help so he can realistically go after that elusive World Series ring? Or will it be more of “Daddy Day Care”?
Jeff Kent is not anyone the Dodgers desperately need. He is far more of a drain on the Dodgers defensively than Nomar was in Boston. He makes stupid baserunning mistakes, and can't run that well either. Kent is really best suited to being a 1b/dh right now, and if he wants a title, he should go to the Yankees. The Dodgers' young players are not as good as they will be, but they need to play regularly, and getting players like Kent out of the way will go a long way in helping that.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Giving up on 2007 officially
So, what was your opinion of Kingman's Performance?
I'm raising the white flag. Unofficially, I did it as soon as Colletti revealed his true level of idiocy in signing Juan Pierre. But now, after losing a doubleheader to the goddamned Rockies, I'm giving up.
I was furious when Colletti signed Pierre, because Pierre had Kenny Lofton's defense and less patience at the plate. He steals bases and admittedly he did have a good percentage this year, but still, he's not worth $9 million per year. Not when you have Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Delwyn Young, Jason Repko, and Jayson Werth already there. Sure, get Gonzalez, but Pierre?
But getting off a rant, let's consider this: The Dodgers are currently 79-72. With 11 games left, the best they can possibly get to is 90-72. The Padres are leading the Wild Card at 83-67. If San Diego plays .500 ball, which is realistic but slightly optimistic, they can go 89-73. The Dodgers, then, could at worst go 10-1 if they want to have a chance at the postseason. I don't see it happening. As much as I'd love to be wrong, I'm more interested in how late their draft pick will be now - I know it will be before 22.
I'm raising the white flag. Unofficially, I did it as soon as Colletti revealed his true level of idiocy in signing Juan Pierre. But now, after losing a doubleheader to the goddamned Rockies, I'm giving up.
I was furious when Colletti signed Pierre, because Pierre had Kenny Lofton's defense and less patience at the plate. He steals bases and admittedly he did have a good percentage this year, but still, he's not worth $9 million per year. Not when you have Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Delwyn Young, Jason Repko, and Jayson Werth already there. Sure, get Gonzalez, but Pierre?
But getting off a rant, let's consider this: The Dodgers are currently 79-72. With 11 games left, the best they can possibly get to is 90-72. The Padres are leading the Wild Card at 83-67. If San Diego plays .500 ball, which is realistic but slightly optimistic, they can go 89-73. The Dodgers, then, could at worst go 10-1 if they want to have a chance at the postseason. I don't see it happening. As much as I'd love to be wrong, I'm more interested in how late their draft pick will be now - I know it will be before 22.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Hey, How about a Dodger Post!
Well here we go. The Dodgers have had some ups and downs, but have also made some roster changes. Here's the current roster:
DL:
Ramon Martinez
Jason Schmidt
Jason Repko
Position Players
Martin - C
Lieberthal - C
Nomar - 1B
Loney - 1B
Saenz - 1B/PH
Abreu - 2B/3B/SS
Kent - 2B
Furcal - SS
Betemit - 3B
Gonzalez - LF
Pierre - CF
Ethier - RF
Kemp - RF/CF
Anderson - OF
Pitchers
Lowe - SP
Penny - SP
Wolf - SP
Kuo - SP
Billingsley - SP(?)
Saito - CL
Broxton - 8
Beimel - LRP
Hendy - LRP
Tomko - RP
Seanez - RP
Seanez is actually a legitimate choice for a 7th inning guy. I'd like to see them get rid of Tomko when Tsao is ready to return, although I'd rather him be really ready than not ready like Schmidt.
If you were to do the rotation by quality, right now it would be
Penny
Lowe
Kuo
Billz
Wolf
And Kuo is a few more excellent starts away from staff ace territory. Really, that guy can pitch, and he's got great stuff. He's a worthy adversary for Roy Halladay on Wednesday. Billingsley, if he continues on the pace of his reliever numbers, could be an excellent starter too. Wolf has been slumping a bit lately, but picked it up a little in his last start. His latest difficulty is pitching deep into games, but he's still been better than expected this year.
DL:
Ramon Martinez
Jason Schmidt
Jason Repko
Position Players
Martin - C
Lieberthal - C
Nomar - 1B
Loney - 1B
Saenz - 1B/PH
Abreu - 2B/3B/SS
Kent - 2B
Furcal - SS
Betemit - 3B
Gonzalez - LF
Pierre - CF
Ethier - RF
Kemp - RF/CF
Anderson - OF
Pitchers
Lowe - SP
Penny - SP
Wolf - SP
Kuo - SP
Billingsley - SP(?)
Saito - CL
Broxton - 8
Beimel - LRP
Hendy - LRP
Tomko - RP
Seanez - RP
Seanez is actually a legitimate choice for a 7th inning guy. I'd like to see them get rid of Tomko when Tsao is ready to return, although I'd rather him be really ready than not ready like Schmidt.
If you were to do the rotation by quality, right now it would be
Penny
Lowe
Kuo
Billz
Wolf
And Kuo is a few more excellent starts away from staff ace territory. Really, that guy can pitch, and he's got great stuff. He's a worthy adversary for Roy Halladay on Wednesday. Billingsley, if he continues on the pace of his reliever numbers, could be an excellent starter too. Wolf has been slumping a bit lately, but picked it up a little in his last start. His latest difficulty is pitching deep into games, but he's still been better than expected this year.
Monday, June 4, 2007
May(ish) Report
Compare to April
Since then, Tsao got hurt, Brazoban came and got hurt, Kuo came up, went down, switched back to the rotation, Tomko got sent to the bullpen, Hendrickson got sent to the bullpen, LaRoche came up, Abreu came up, Laroche was sent down, Valdez was DFA'd and outrighted to AAA.
Overall Record
33-23
Record with 3 or fewer runs scored:
8-15
Record with 3 or fewer runs allowed:
22-3
Record with 3 0r fewer runs scored by both teams:
8-3
Record in 1 run games
13-4
Extra Innings Record
3-0
Double digit run games, allowed:
4, 1
Shutouts
4
Times Shut out
2
Wins
Average Game Score: 59.8
Minimum: 35
Median: 62
Maximum: 81
Average IP: 6.20
Average Runs Scored: 5.73
Average Runs Allowed: 2.52
Losses
Average Game Score: 38.3
Minimum: 11
Median: 37
Maximum: 66
Average IP: 5.30
Average Runs Scored: 2.57
Average Runs Allowed: 6.04
Pitchers by Mean Game Score
Penny (6 starts): 57.0
Tomko (8 starts): 43.1
Wolf (6 starts): 54.8
Lowe (6 starts): 53.3
Kuo (1 start): 47
Hendrickson (8 starts): 45.1
Tomko (8 starts): 43.1
Schmidt (3 starts): 39.7
For defensive records up until this point, see here.
Here are the Rate2 and FP stats by position:
POS_Rate2_FP
1 - 107 - .981
2 - 109 - .989
3 - 90 - .992
4 - 86 - .966
5 - 93 - .950
6 - 113 - .969
7 - 91 - .988
8 - 99 - .986
9 - 96 - .965
Since then, Tsao got hurt, Brazoban came and got hurt, Kuo came up, went down, switched back to the rotation, Tomko got sent to the bullpen, Hendrickson got sent to the bullpen, LaRoche came up, Abreu came up, Laroche was sent down, Valdez was DFA'd and outrighted to AAA.
Overall Record
33-23
Record with 3 or fewer runs scored:
8-15
Record with 3 or fewer runs allowed:
22-3
Record with 3 0r fewer runs scored by both teams:
8-3
Record in 1 run games
13-4
Extra Innings Record
3-0
Double digit run games, allowed:
4, 1
Shutouts
4
Times Shut out
2
Wins
Average Game Score: 59.8
Minimum: 35
Median: 62
Maximum: 81
Average IP: 6.20
Average Runs Scored: 5.73
Average Runs Allowed: 2.52
Losses
Average Game Score: 38.3
Minimum: 11
Median: 37
Maximum: 66
Average IP: 5.30
Average Runs Scored: 2.57
Average Runs Allowed: 6.04
Pitchers by Mean Game Score
Penny (6 starts): 57.0
Tomko (8 starts): 43.1
Wolf (6 starts): 54.8
Lowe (6 starts): 53.3
Kuo (1 start): 47
Hendrickson (8 starts): 45.1
Tomko (8 starts): 43.1
Schmidt (3 starts): 39.7
For defensive records up until this point, see here.
Here are the Rate2 and FP stats by position:
POS_Rate2_FP
1 - 107 - .981
2 - 109 - .989
3 - 90 - .992
4 - 86 - .966
5 - 93 - .950
6 - 113 - .969
7 - 91 - .988
8 - 99 - .986
9 - 96 - .965
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
April Report
Time for a bunch of useless summary statistics, including tonight's game since the season started April 2.
Overall Record
16-11
Record with 3 or fewer runs scored:
4-8
Record with 3 or fewer runs allowed:
11-1
Record with 3 0r fewer runs scored by both teams:
4-1
Record in 1 run games
6-3
Extra Innings Record
2-0
Double digit run games, allowed:
2, 0
Shutouts
1
Times Shut out
0
Wins
Average Game Score: 58.8
Minimum: 36
Median: 61.5
Maximum: 76
Average IP: 6.15
Average Runs Scored: 5.81
Average Runs Allowed: 2.25
Losses
Average Game Score: 37.7
Minimum: 20
Median: 45
Maximum: 50
Average IP: 5.24
Average Runs Scored: 2.73
Average Runs Allowed: 6
Pitchers by Mean Game Score
Hendrickson (2 starts): 58.5
Penny (6 starts): 57.5
Tomko (4 starts): 51.5
Wolf (6 starts): 49.7
Lowe (6 starts): 45
Schmidt (3 starts): 39.7
Overall Record
16-11
Record with 3 or fewer runs scored:
4-8
Record with 3 or fewer runs allowed:
11-1
Record with 3 0r fewer runs scored by both teams:
4-1
Record in 1 run games
6-3
Extra Innings Record
2-0
Double digit run games, allowed:
2, 0
Shutouts
1
Times Shut out
0
Wins
Average Game Score: 58.8
Minimum: 36
Median: 61.5
Maximum: 76
Average IP: 6.15
Average Runs Scored: 5.81
Average Runs Allowed: 2.25
Losses
Average Game Score: 37.7
Minimum: 20
Median: 45
Maximum: 50
Average IP: 5.24
Average Runs Scored: 2.73
Average Runs Allowed: 6
Pitchers by Mean Game Score
Hendrickson (2 starts): 58.5
Penny (6 starts): 57.5
Tomko (4 starts): 51.5
Wolf (6 starts): 49.7
Lowe (6 starts): 45
Schmidt (3 starts): 39.7
Sunday, April 22, 2007
The series against Pittsburgh
That was some absolutely foul baseball. Downright awful I tell you. But the Dodgers won two out of three.
GAME 1
Dodgers 10, Pirates 2
Wolf 65, Armas 10
I have to admit that this was a rather enjoyable game. LA absolutely dominated Pittsburgh in the contest; there was no contest. Wolf struck out 10 over 6 innings, so he gets player of the game honors.
Game 2
Dodgers 7, Pirates 3
Penny 49, Snell 60
Watching Gameday made it clear that Cowboy Joe West had a poor judgement of the strike zone. A very poor judgement. So poor, in fact, that Grady Little got himself thrown out of a game. That was only the second time Grady has done that, and each time there was some poor umpiring. But Penny still managed to go 6 innings, and the Dodgers were lucky enough to win on a Martin grand slam.
Game 3
Pirates 7, Dodgers 5
Tomko 45, Gorzelanny 54
The worst defense ever, quite possibly. Martin fumbled the ball, at one point, which apparently inspired a chain reaction. Pierre made an error on one play, and then misplayed an out into a double on another, so Tomko should have been better off than he was. The Dodgers could have won this game were it not for Pierre's adventures in the outfield, although Billingsley had a poor showing as well. But he has a lower ERA than Jason Schmidt, so I'll give him some time. Unfortunately, not enough of a rally to pull it off this time.
GAME 1
Dodgers 10, Pirates 2
Wolf 65, Armas 10
I have to admit that this was a rather enjoyable game. LA absolutely dominated Pittsburgh in the contest; there was no contest. Wolf struck out 10 over 6 innings, so he gets player of the game honors.
Game 2
Dodgers 7, Pirates 3
Penny 49, Snell 60
Watching Gameday made it clear that Cowboy Joe West had a poor judgement of the strike zone. A very poor judgement. So poor, in fact, that Grady Little got himself thrown out of a game. That was only the second time Grady has done that, and each time there was some poor umpiring. But Penny still managed to go 6 innings, and the Dodgers were lucky enough to win on a Martin grand slam.
Game 3
Pirates 7, Dodgers 5
Tomko 45, Gorzelanny 54
The worst defense ever, quite possibly. Martin fumbled the ball, at one point, which apparently inspired a chain reaction. Pierre made an error on one play, and then misplayed an out into a double on another, so Tomko should have been better off than he was. The Dodgers could have won this game were it not for Pierre's adventures in the outfield, although Billingsley had a poor showing as well. But he has a lower ERA than Jason Schmidt, so I'll give him some time. Unfortunately, not enough of a rally to pull it off this time.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Team Stats as of 4/21/07
The Dodgers are in first place and have the best record in MLB, so I figured I'd see how they stack against other teams in team pitching and hitting categories. What could be said to be fueling their particular success?
So I'll use the following for the team over all, and also splits for starters and bullpen.
ERA
WHIP
K/9
K/BB
HR rate
Additionally, I'll also look at IP/GS and an adjusted save percentage of (SV+HLD)/(SVO+HLD), since if you blow the lead in a hold situation it's called a blown save.
On the offensive end, I'll look at ranks in runs scored, runs batted in, BA/OBP/SLG, and splits with RISP.
So here it is:
DODGERS TEAM PITCHING STATS
Starters:
ERA: 3.29 (6th)
WHIP: 1.42 (17th)
K/9: 6.42 (13th)
K/BB: 1.80 (18th)
IP/HR: 15.95 (tied for 3rd)
IP/start: 5.6 innings
Relievers:
ERA: 2.32 (3rd)
WHIP: 1.05 (2nd)
K/9: 7.95 (9th)
K/BB: 3.20 (1st)
IP/HR: 18.1 (7th)
adjusted SV%: 92%
Whole Team:
ERA: 2.94 (4th)
WHIP: 1.29 (12th)
K/9: 7.02 (9th)
K/BB: 2.17 (7th)
IP/HR: 16.7 (3rd)
NOW THE HITTERS
OVERALL
.271/.337/.390 (5th/10th/15th), 9 HR (25th), 84 R (3rd), 80 RBI (3rd)
RISP
.297/.380/.439 (5th/7th/10th), 73 R (2nd), 69 RBI (1st, tie)
Nobody out
.289/.360/.416 (7th/3rd/13th), 22 R (4th, tie), 22 RBI (3rd)
1 out
.301/.359/.440 (3rd/5th/5th), 35 R (2nd, tie), 34 RBI (2nd)
2 out
.216/.283/.304 (26th/26th/28th), 27 R (15th), 24 RBI (17th)
RISP, 2 Out
.226/.333/.387 (17th/17th/14th)
So I'll use the following for the team over all, and also splits for starters and bullpen.
ERA
WHIP
K/9
K/BB
HR rate
Additionally, I'll also look at IP/GS and an adjusted save percentage of (SV+HLD)/(SVO+HLD), since if you blow the lead in a hold situation it's called a blown save.
On the offensive end, I'll look at ranks in runs scored, runs batted in, BA/OBP/SLG, and splits with RISP.
So here it is:
DODGERS TEAM PITCHING STATS
Starters:
ERA: 3.29 (6th)
WHIP: 1.42 (17th)
K/9: 6.42 (13th)
K/BB: 1.80 (18th)
IP/HR: 15.95 (tied for 3rd)
IP/start: 5.6 innings
Relievers:
ERA: 2.32 (3rd)
WHIP: 1.05 (2nd)
K/9: 7.95 (9th)
K/BB: 3.20 (1st)
IP/HR: 18.1 (7th)
adjusted SV%: 92%
Whole Team:
ERA: 2.94 (4th)
WHIP: 1.29 (12th)
K/9: 7.02 (9th)
K/BB: 2.17 (7th)
IP/HR: 16.7 (3rd)
NOW THE HITTERS
OVERALL
.271/.337/.390 (5th/10th/15th), 9 HR (25th), 84 R (3rd), 80 RBI (3rd)
RISP
.297/.380/.439 (5th/7th/10th), 73 R (2nd), 69 RBI (1st, tie)
Nobody out
.289/.360/.416 (7th/3rd/13th), 22 R (4th, tie), 22 RBI (3rd)
1 out
.301/.359/.440 (3rd/5th/5th), 35 R (2nd, tie), 34 RBI (2nd)
2 out
.216/.283/.304 (26th/26th/28th), 27 R (15th), 24 RBI (17th)
RISP, 2 Out
.226/.333/.387 (17th/17th/14th)
Last coupla serieses
I have to say I was impressed with the 4 games on the road, winning 3 out of 4. The most pleasant surprise was Mark Hendrickson's start.
I'll put up detail on the Pirates series when it's done, but for now I'll just do some quick stuff:
Game 1: Dodgers vs Arizona
Result: win 5-2
Penny 62, Gonzalez 37
Game 2: Dodgers vs Arizona
Result: win 6-4
Tomko 36, Owings 43
Game 3: Dodgers vs Rockies
Result: lose 2-7
Lowe 29, Lopez 51
This game was particularly disturbing because Rodrigo Lopez pitched well against LA again, and even worse, Derek Lowe couldn't give as good a start as Brett Tomko, so the Dodgers lost.
Game 4: Dodgers vs Rockies
Result: win 5-1
Hendrickson 56, Cook 44
Not a bad game by Hendrickson. He was making a spot start, so his pitch count was limited; he would have hit the 60s if he had another inning, likely.
The Dodgers go into the series against Pittsburgh 11-5, and will likely be 12-5 not to long after I finish this post.
I'll put up detail on the Pirates series when it's done, but for now I'll just do some quick stuff:
Game 1: Dodgers vs Arizona
Result: win 5-2
Penny 62, Gonzalez 37
Game 2: Dodgers vs Arizona
Result: win 6-4
Tomko 36, Owings 43
Game 3: Dodgers vs Rockies
Result: lose 2-7
Lowe 29, Lopez 51
This game was particularly disturbing because Rodrigo Lopez pitched well against LA again, and even worse, Derek Lowe couldn't give as good a start as Brett Tomko, so the Dodgers lost.
Game 4: Dodgers vs Rockies
Result: win 5-1
Hendrickson 56, Cook 44
Not a bad game by Hendrickson. He was making a spot start, so his pitch count was limited; he would have hit the 60s if he had another inning, likely.
The Dodgers go into the series against Pittsburgh 11-5, and will likely be 12-5 not to long after I finish this post.
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Series 2 - San Francisco Giants
Well, the Giants didn't put up as much of a fight as one would expect in a rivalry. Fact is, they're pretty bad, and too old. Durham's got a good bit of pop for a 2b, but you don't want him to be higher than a 5 guy, though. Bonds will keep getting walked I guess, but the guy is just an injury or an indictment away from making you look weak. Ryan Klesko? Come on, now five or six years ago I'd say sure, but Klesko's clearly past his prime.
And with all the money they spent on Barry Zito, they also had Russ Ortiz start. All they had to do was get Lance Niekro to throw a knuckleball. It was good to see Russ back, though, walking in a run.
It was also nice to see Gonzalez finally make a positive contribution with his two homer game on Sunday. Juan Pierre, however, has yet to impress me, and I doubt he will. And I know Wilson Valdez can't keep it up. But whatever. Sweep of the Giants, you gotta love it.
GAME 1:
Dodgers 2, Giants 1.
Penny 53 Lowry 61
This game featured one of the funniest runs all season. Matt Kemp singles on a grounder to the pitcher, then reaches second on an error. Kemp then makes it to third on a wild pitch, and finally he scores on a fielder's choice attempt, as he avoids the tag. Reminds me of a little league play from when I was 8 and hit an inside-the-park home run. I was on the Athletics.
GAME 2:
Dodgers 4, Giants 1
Lowe 64, Ortiz 42
Russ Ortiz wasn't completely terrible, but maybe he was and the Dodger offense made him look good. After watching Sheets in his second start of the season, I'm thinking that maybe the Dodgers will be lucky to score 700 runs this year, especially with Pierre in the leadoff spot.
GAME 3:
Dodgers 10, Giants 4
Wolf 62, Zito 23
Bochy may not have deserved his ejection, but maybe what goes around comes around for that bogus 2 meetings on the mound thing last year. But in any event, the Dodgers kicked Barry Zito around pretty hard, much more successful than last year. A lot of the credit goes to Luis Gonzalez, who smacked two big flies in that game.
And with all the money they spent on Barry Zito, they also had Russ Ortiz start. All they had to do was get Lance Niekro to throw a knuckleball. It was good to see Russ back, though, walking in a run.
It was also nice to see Gonzalez finally make a positive contribution with his two homer game on Sunday. Juan Pierre, however, has yet to impress me, and I doubt he will. And I know Wilson Valdez can't keep it up. But whatever. Sweep of the Giants, you gotta love it.
GAME 1:
Dodgers 2, Giants 1.
Penny 53 Lowry 61
This game featured one of the funniest runs all season. Matt Kemp singles on a grounder to the pitcher, then reaches second on an error. Kemp then makes it to third on a wild pitch, and finally he scores on a fielder's choice attempt, as he avoids the tag. Reminds me of a little league play from when I was 8 and hit an inside-the-park home run. I was on the Athletics.
GAME 2:
Dodgers 4, Giants 1
Lowe 64, Ortiz 42
Russ Ortiz wasn't completely terrible, but maybe he was and the Dodger offense made him look good. After watching Sheets in his second start of the season, I'm thinking that maybe the Dodgers will be lucky to score 700 runs this year, especially with Pierre in the leadoff spot.
GAME 3:
Dodgers 10, Giants 4
Wolf 62, Zito 23
Bochy may not have deserved his ejection, but maybe what goes around comes around for that bogus 2 meetings on the mound thing last year. But in any event, the Dodgers kicked Barry Zito around pretty hard, much more successful than last year. A lot of the credit goes to Luis Gonzalez, who smacked two big flies in that game.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
April 2-4, The Brewers
So here's my wrap-up of the series, from what I could gather via gameday and other such reports.
Nothing really came as that much of a surprise. Juan Pierre and Luis Gonzalez, blame the park all you want, were not very impressive in the outfield. Grady Little kept mysteriously using Matt Kemp in Ethier's place and leaving Gonzalez in (Ethier also hasn't gotten on base yet this season). Takashi Saito saw his first action tonight in the win to pick up the save and save the team from Rudy Seanez. Broxton has been rock solid so far.
Martin was about the only player who did particularly well on offense, and the #2 spot suits him well. Pierre finally hit the ball, but more spectacularly took a walk only to be driven in by Martin on the next play in game #2.
Also, the Brewers have a lot more dominance in their pitching staff that people don't seem to notice, and their offense is fairly strong as well. They are questionable in terms of depth, but otherwise this is a team that can contend.
Numbers Breakdown:
Game 1: Lose 1-7
Game Scores: Lowe 21, Sheets 82
Player of the Game: Ben Sheets
Game 2: Lose 3-4
Game Scores: Wolf 46, Capuano 49
Player of the Game: Broxton
Game 3: Win 5-4
Game Scores: Schmidt 59, Suppan 54
Player of the game: Olmedo Saenz
Nothing really came as that much of a surprise. Juan Pierre and Luis Gonzalez, blame the park all you want, were not very impressive in the outfield. Grady Little kept mysteriously using Matt Kemp in Ethier's place and leaving Gonzalez in (Ethier also hasn't gotten on base yet this season). Takashi Saito saw his first action tonight in the win to pick up the save and save the team from Rudy Seanez. Broxton has been rock solid so far.
Martin was about the only player who did particularly well on offense, and the #2 spot suits him well. Pierre finally hit the ball, but more spectacularly took a walk only to be driven in by Martin on the next play in game #2.
Also, the Brewers have a lot more dominance in their pitching staff that people don't seem to notice, and their offense is fairly strong as well. They are questionable in terms of depth, but otherwise this is a team that can contend.
Numbers Breakdown:
Game 1: Lose 1-7
Game Scores: Lowe 21, Sheets 82
Player of the Game: Ben Sheets
Game 2: Lose 3-4
Game Scores: Wolf 46, Capuano 49
Player of the Game: Broxton
Game 3: Win 5-4
Game Scores: Schmidt 59, Suppan 54
Player of the game: Olmedo Saenz
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