But here we are, several bullpen implosions later, and the Dodgers finish a road trip that they could have hypothetically gone 5-1 on, with a record of 2-4.
Anyway, enough of what could have been. Let's look at what really was. Last season, on my weekly reviews, you might remember I had a "HOT" "COLD" and "ROOM TEMPERATURE" system. Well, I'm tired of that. I now introduce my new system: a Four Star rating! With real stars!
What's the difference? Now there's four tiers instead of three!
Does it change much? No!
Does it mean anything? No!
Am I having flashbacks of Jim Tracy interviews right now? Yes!
Enough of that, let's do this!
Hiroki Kuroda - Kuroda only had one start this week, but went 8.0 innings and surrendered only one unearned run while striking out seven.
Matt Kemp - Painful error in Sunday's game aside, Kemp went 9-28 this week, with three doubles and a (monster) homerun. A side note: maybe it's just me, but does it seem like Kemp is chasing more bad breaking balls this year? He was definitely showing improvement on that aspect of his game last season, but so far this week, he's taken some bad hacks at sliders he'll never get to. Chalk it up to Opening Week nerves?
Ronnie Belliard - Belliard made the most of his playing time this week, going 6-12. He went 3-5 on Thursday with a double, a triple, and a homerun, just missing out on the cycle. If he keeps this up, he might make a case for more playing time.
Charlie Haeger - Haeger went 6.0 solid innings in his start, striking out 12 ... 12 (!) Marlins. He did surrender a pretty ugly three run homerun to Jorge Cantú and allowed a fourth unearned run (see aforementioned painful Matt Kemp error) but I won't hold that against him. Six innings, three runs is almost exactly what you'd hope for from a 5th starter.
Chad Billingsley - Billingsley went 5.1 innings in his only start this week, and was solid. He only gave up one run while striking out seven. Still, he gave up five hits and four walks in just those 5.1 innings, and saw his pitch count over 100 by the 6th inning, and that my friends, is not pitching effectively.
Russ Ortiz - Ortiz had two good outings (three innings) to start the season before imploding on Friday. Ortiz came into the game in the 9th inning, with a 7-1 lead, gave up a single, retired one batter, and gave up two walks to load the bases, bringing Joe Torre out of the dugout to pull him.
Ramon Ortiz - The other half of the Ortiz power hour, Ramon had almost the opposite week of Russ. Ramon went two scoreless innings in his third outing on Saturday. This, unfortunately, was only after his first outing, when he allowed three inherited runners to score before giving up a run of his own, and his second outing, in which he allowed the Pirates to score the winning run in the 10th inning on Wednesday.
Clayton Kershaw - Kershaw struggled a lot in his first start. A LOT. He only made it 4.2 innings while giving up five hits and walking six. By the time Kershaw was pulled with two outs in the 5th inning, he had made 109 pitches and left with the bases loaded. Jeff Weaver came in and got out of the inning without any more damage. It was not a good start to the season for Kershaw. On the other hand, he still managed to only give up three runs, so I can't bump him down to 1 STAR.
Vicente Padilla - Padilla made two starts this week in which he only made it 4.1 innings into the game. In his first start, he was charged with seven runs (three given up by Ramon Ortiz). In his second start, he gave up four runs and left with two runners on in the 5th before Weaver came in to bail him out.
George Sherrill - Sherrill gave up two runs in 27.2 innings of work last year for us. In three games this year (two innings), Sherrill has given up five runs. On Monday, he gave up a big three run homerun that basically closed the door on any hope of a comeback in that game. On Saturday, he blew a save and gave the Marlins a win by surrendering two runs in the bottom of the 9th.
Ok, there you have it. The Stars and lesser Stars of the first week that was. 2-4. Sigh.
1 comment:
Torre should have left Ortiz in. He needed two outs, and hadn't given up a run. If you know Ortiz' game, you know he nibbles, goes deep in counts, and walks a few - though this spring, hardly any. He had been lights out all spring, and should have been trusted to get two outs without giving up six runs.
Then, Broxton gives up a double. Just sayin'...
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