Dodgers Retrospective - Week 14

I don't know about you, but this week was kinda weird for me.

It felt like a pretty good week, right? And yet, I take look back at past seven games and see the Dodgers finished just a game over .500 (4-3).

Still, the Dodgers will head into the All-Star break 10 games over .500 and two games back of the Padres in the NL West, tied for the Wildcard lead with the Rockies, which ain't a bad place to be with half a season to go.


Today, We Spell Redemption: K-U-O.

A quick note before I jump into it this week, congrats to Rafael Furcal and Hong-Chih Kuo for making it into the All-Star game as reserves, replacing Jose Reyes and Jason Heyward, respectively. Doesn't really make up for the fact that Reyes shouldn't have ever made the team in the first place or that Heyward shouldn't have been voted in by the fans as a starter, but I'm done complaining about that. Better late than never. It's a nice thing for a couple of guys who've been through a lot.



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The retrospective this week is actually more a retrospective for the first half. I'm not going to go crazy in-depth into it, but I just wanted to touch on who I felt were the top 3 and bottom 3 MVPs of the first half.


First Half Anti-MVPs

3. Tie - Ramon Ortiz and Russ Ortiz

Oh yes, I haven't forgotten. I've covered my extreme dislike of the Ortizes several times on this blog, but I'll just remind you of some of their numbers. Russ Ortiz: 7.0 IP, 8 ER, and a sweet, sweet 2.143 WHIP. Ramon Ortiz stuck around for 30.0 IP over 16 games and posted a nice 6.30 ERA.


2. George Sherrill

He doesn't have the worst ERA of all the pitchers the Dodgers have used this year, but of all the pitchers, Sherrill has been, by far, the biggest disappointment. He has struggled to get outs all year and as such, has affected the entire bullpen.

I mean, could you imagine if Joe Torre had Sherrill in his bullpen pitching like he did last year. Imagine if he trusted Sherrill enough to use him when he's overworked Broxton. Then he could use Hong-Chih Kuo more sparingly. Wow. The idea having more than two go-to guys in the bullpen makes me doubly sad when I'm confronted with the reality of the situation.


1. Garret Anderson

Hey, maybe it was obvious, but how I can I not give it to him?

He finished his first half batting .179. And not just in 30 something at-bats. He went 24-134. That's twenty-four hits ... in one hundred and thirty four at-bats. He's also drawn three walks. I can't help but smile as I write this because that is so ludicrously absurd. It's insane. He can't hit and he has no patience. He can't play defense. He can't run. I just... I start talking about how bad Anderson is and I begin to ramble because there's so much ground to cover. My thoughts are rapid firing from one reason to the next as to why Anderson should have been released months ago. I'm want to express myself but I can't. I feel like I need to get a canvas and just start painting my feelings. Yes, Garret Anderson is so bad, he's inspiring me to create art.

To be honest though, I can't help but enjoy watching Anderson play. At this point, I almost don't know if I want him gone because I have to know how bad he can be. Mike at MSTI broke down Anderson's numbers to show that he's having one of the worst seasons in Dodger history. He might not have the worst season ever, but at this point, I kinda want to see how close he can get.

"Only three walks? That's hilarious! Manny had three walks in one game a week ago!"

First Half MVPs

3. Andre Ethier

Ethier is second on the team in batting average, leads the team in slugging, and is second in OPS, just four points behind Manny, but in almost 100 more at-bats. He's got 14 homers on the season, and, oh yeah, a starting job in the All-Star game. I have to wonder how good Ethier's season might be if he didn't break his finger when he was his hottest (.392, 1.201 OPS when he went down). I know expecting that kind of play over a full season is unrealistic, but when you are on a crazy hot streak, you got to ride it out.


2. Clayton Kershaw

Remember when Jon Heyman said Kershaw was regressing? Ha-ha-hah-ha-ha.

Kershaw in 18 starts: 112.1 IP, 2.96 ERA, 128 Ks. For record junkies, that translates to 9-4.

He polished off his first half with an excellent 8.0 innings against the Cubs on Thursday, striking out 12.


1. Rafael Furcal

Furcal leads the team in average, and more importantly, heart. That's right. I found a way to measure it. Still working on scrappy-ness, but that's for another day.

Seriously though. Furcal returned from family tragedy and started putting it all out on the field. Since June 23th, Furcal has been hitting .397, with a 1.109 OPS. He's hit six doubles, a triple, four homeruns, and has driven in 14 runs over the 17 game span. More importantly, though, for a leadoff hitter, he's scored 21 runs in those 17 games. Oh, and he's also stolen five bases.

All this is for a guy who was already hitting .305 coming in.

Furcal is playing out of his mind, and when he plays like that, the Dodgers play like a different team.

...and so, for all that, Furcal got named to the All-Star team.

...and for all that, he's my first half MVP.