So, I guess that happened. That being the entire 2011 season. Anyway, I just had a couple of thoughts that were too long for Twitter and decided to post them here.
1. Before the season began, I thought to myself that if everything went right this season the Dodgers could get somewhere around 86 wins and (again, all things going right) that might allow them to win the division. That meant Casey Blake contributing (ha), getting quality innings from Jon Garland (Ha), getting a lot of scoreless outings from Broxton, Kuo, and Vicente Padilla (HA!), and getting a handful of homeruns and some solid defense from Juan Uribe (HAHAHA!). Obviously, things didn't go right.
Of course, I never imagined the Diamondbacks would win 94 games, so that really blew everything away anyway.
Still, for all the injuries and question marks, the Dodgers had a great second half and still ended up winning 82 games. Even though there's no reward for finishing in 3rd place in your division, there's still some pride to be had in having a winning record for this season, especially because a few months ago, winning 70 games seemed like a barely achievable goal.
This team deserves a lot of credit for the strong finish. And that means a lot coming from me, considering how cynical and "dead inside" I've been for the last several months.
2. Speaking of credit, James Loney deserves a bunch for saving himself from what was quickly becoming a horrific season. He somehow managed himself 12 homeruns and a line of .288/.339/.416. That's not that much worse than his career numbers. 2011 actually turned out to be a very James Loney year.
Does this mean he shouldn't still be non-tendered this offseason? Yes and no. I know that's not an answer. Let me explain.
If there is money to spend for free agents this offseason, 1st base is definitely in need of an upgrade. But let's be honest, the budget will probably be conservative. Where is McCourt going to get the money to sign big checks? If that's the case, might as well keep Loney (this route might include non-tendering him and resigning him cheaper). There's not a whole lot of sense in letting Loney go and creating a hole at first base if the front office isn't going to have the money available to replace him.
(Quickly, while I'm still partially on the subject, Rod Barajas had a totally Rod Barajas year as well: 16 homeruns and a line of .230/.287/.430. Compare that to his career line of .238/.284/.414. I guess you couldn't ask for more?)
3. Dee Gordon, Jerry Sands, and Rubby De La Rosa (may his 2012 season rest in peace) have me excited for the future. Flashes of brilliance from all three.
4. Finally, Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp.
Granted, I'm biased, but these two should be Cy Young and MVP, respectively. Both races are going to be close, and both players should be really proud of themselves no matter where they finish in the race.
A lot has been said about who should win what and for what reasons, so I won't get into it too heavily. I'll just say this about Matt Kemp:
If Matt Kemp had won the Triple Crown (ignoring how unimportant the stats that make up the Triple Crown are) he'd probably be a near unanimous MVP choice. Kemp finished the season at the top of the leaderboard in both homeruns and RBIs. He finished with a .324 batting average, coming in third to Ryan Braun (.332) and Jose Reyes (.337). Kemp was 195 for 602 on the season. If Kemp had gone 203 for 602, he would have finished the season batting .33721 to Reyes' .3371 (181 for 537).
What I'm saying is this: Kemp missed out on the batting title in the Triple Crown race by eight hits. Eight. This is over a six month season. That's something like just one more hit every three weeks of the season. One bloop single here or there. A lucky hop. A squib single towards a 3rd baseman who was playing too far back. A fly ball that an outfielder loses in the sun and never gets his glove on. A line drive or ground ball that stays fair instead of just drifting foul. Eight hits over the course of a long season is so, so minimal.
Point being, if you would have voted for Kemp had he won the Triple Crown but wouldn't now that he just missed out on it, consider how very slim the margin was here. If missing just eight hits over an entire season costs Kemp the MVP award, it would be a tremendous shame.
Last thing, still related to Kemp and Kershaw.
It is such a travesty that the Dodgers have, arguably, the best young starting pitcher and the best young position player in the league and the best they can do is finish 3rd in the NL West.
These two young players are in or entering their prime and they are being surrounded by players the likes of Juan Uribe and Eugenio Velez (not that Velez cost this team their shot at the playoffs, but I think you get my point). Frank McCourt won't, or can't, spend big to improve the team, and the small amount of money he does allot, Ned Colletti wastes on poor free agent signings (Matt Guerrier is still owed $7.5 million over the next two years).
They've turned what should be something great into a mess.
I guess if I were to point a single reason why I only went to one home game this season (and the tickets were bought by someone else) it'd be that. So, there you go, McCourt. If you are wondering why attendance is down so much this year, it's you. You are the face of a group of people that have turned this great franchise into one of constant upheaval, and one, worst of all, that has begun to squander some of the best years of its brightest young players.
Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw should be the center pieces of a 100 win team heading for the playoffs. Instead, they are heading home before the start of October while McCourt still sits in court trying to get control of a team no one wants him to have.
At least, that's just my reason for attending the fewest amount of Dodger games in season since I was a little kid ... though, what am I but just another fan?
God, this got depressing. I didn't mean for it to be, but whenever I get to thinking about the number McCourt has done to this franchise, I start to go to a dark place.
Sorry.
I'm going to take a couple of deep breaths and get myself ready for the offseason.
I'm doing some more consolidating of the offseason awards I hand out.
Today, I'm cutting out the Gold Glove, mainly because fielding is hard to judge and checking out the UZR leaderboards on the Dodgers, I'm seeing Reed Johnson at number one, which seems acceptable except for how small the sample size is. Then, at number two, you have Casey Blake, which greatly surprised me.
So, I guess Casey Blake gets the Gold Glove award, but again, hard to judge.
Ok then. Rookie of the Year, another award with not a whole bunch of viable candidates.
Six players made their debuts this year: Carlos Monasterios, Russ Mitchell, Jon Link, John Lindsey, Kenley Jansen, and John Ely.
Russ Mitchell came up in September and didn't get a whole lot of experience. Jon Link got just 8.2 innings worth of work in.
You have to give John Lindsey an honorable mention for finally making it to the show but the poor guy got just twelve at-bats before breaking his hand. At least he got a base hit.
I give credit to Monasterios for jumping from the low minors and sticking the whole year on a major league roster. He had a couple of good moments, and was admirable for his ability to work out of the bullpen and make spot starts on short notice.
Unfortunately, not all of his 88.1 innings were of the highest quality. For example, he posted a 2.20 ERA in 28.2 innings in April and May, which was great. Then he posted a 5.43 ERA from June until the end of the season, which was not as great. Overall, he finished the season with a 4.38 ERA, which is pretty good for a guy who hadn't even sniffed the minors before this year.
That leaves us with our last two candidates: Ely and Jansen. This is actually pretty tough for me.
Jansen was fantastic. 0.67 ERA in 27 innings. 41 strikeouts to just 15 walks.
On the other hand, because Ely struggled through his last nine appearances (8.18 ERA in 44 IP) and raised his overall ERA on the season to 5.49, it makes it easy to forget that he was great through his first nine. After getting called up, Ely posted a 3.38 ERA in 56 innings through nine games, striking out 41 to 13 walks.
So, again, tough decision.
But I got to give it to Ely.
Taking nothing away from Jansen, because I thoroughly enjoyed watching him pitch this year and I think he's got a very bright future, but, at least for me, his 27 innings pitched can't trump the fact that John Ely was fourth on the list of Games Started for pitchers this year or that Ely racked up nine quality starts in his rookie campaign.
There's a lot of value in that, and as such, John Ely wins the "J's Dodger Blog 2010 Rookie of the Year" award.
So, apparently, A.J. Ellis, somehow, became an amazing hitter...
Yeah, I didn't see it coming either. Coming into Sunday, he was six for his last seven with a couple doubles and a walk.
That's why Joe Torre used him to pinch hit in the 11th inning of today's game with the bases loaded. And Ellis came through with his second walk-off hit of the season.
A nice way to salvage a week that was pretty bad. Even with the comeback win, the Dodgers still lost both series this week, and went 2-4 overall.
Ultimately, it doesn't matter, unless you're trying to figure out where the Dodgers will pick in next year's draft. (With the win today, they'd pick 11th, in case you were wondering...)
Anyway, there's not a whole lot else worth talking about this week, as far as on the field play goes.
Off the field, though...
Under New Management
So, obviously, the big news this week came when Joe Torre announced his retirement (from the Dodgers, at least) and named Don Mattingly his successor.
As I said on Twitter at the time, I'm wasn't surprised. Just disappointed.
Not that I don't think Mattingly could be a good major league manager. In all honesty, I have no idea. People are worried that because he learned under Joe Torre, he'll make many of the same mistakes as Joe. And while I'm sure he will make mistakes, I'm at least willing to give him a shot before I dismiss him.
The biggest issue I have is the lack of exploring other alternatives. They didn't interview any other candidates for the job, not Tim Wallach (who admittedly might not be a better manager, again, I have no idea), nor anyone else. They just handed the job straight to Mattingly. I guess, ultimately, going in another direction wasn't really an option as Dylan Hernandez reported that Mattingly signed a deal this offseason guaranteeing him the manager's job if Torre stepped down. It seems like a pretty low reward/high risk deal. Worst case: the Dodgers get stuck with a guy who can't manage a major league team or control a clubhouse. Best case: the Dodgers secure a guy who has never managed a team. I mean, what's the worst that could happen? Mattingly gets a better job offer from another team, and then what? We end up with Tim Wallach coaching? Just ... odd decisions coming from the front office.
Including those of the facial hair variety ... your soul patch is off center! Dammit!
Anyway, the key for me is who Mattingly gets to fill his staff. I get the feeling that if he keeps Bob Schaefer and Larry Bowa around, it's going to be a lot of the same old.
If he brings in some new guys, some people that take a different approach with the players and team, I have hope that he can learn and be a different kind of manager.
I guess we'll see, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit worried.
Smart Trades
I know I've been saying for a while we should've sold, so you'd think I'd be happy to see Octavio Dotel shipped off to the Rockies for a Player To Be Named Later. And, believe me, I am.
But I can't move past how horrid the original trade to bring Dotel here was in the first place.
If you want to do the math, the first trade was James McDonald and Andrew Lambo for Octavio Dotel. Dotel pitched 18.2 innings for the Dodgers (3.38 ERA) and then was swapped for cash and a PTBNL.
So, the final trade looks something like this: McDonald + Lambo = 18.2 IP of Dotel + PTBNL ... which looks absolutely terrible as it stands, until you realize that on the day Dotel was sent to the Rockies, McDonald had his streak of 20 straight scoreless innings finally snapped. Just solid work from the front office.
Totally worth it!
Yeah. If that trade was not the worst of Colletti's career, it has got to be top three, right? (Santana for Blake? Bell for Sherrill? At least both Blake and Sherrill contributed at some point to a playoff race. Dotel did nothing but cost us young players and money to pitch mediocre in a handful of meaningless games.)
Another Take On Manny
Just one last thing, apropos of nothing really.
I was listening to a podcast with comedian/character actor Larry Miller and he started talking about Manny Ramirez and baseball in general.
The whole episode is about 35 minutes and it's all about baseball memories if you have the time to listen to the whole thing, but if you want to jump to the Manny part, it's about 30 minutes in. If you have a little more time, I'd recommend starting at 24 minutes. Larry tells a pretty cool story that kind of leads into the Manny discussion.
Essentially, Larry says that despite the fact it got a little ugly at the end, Manny did something pretty great for this city in 2008.
And he's right. I will always be appreciative of Manny for what he did in those last few months in 2008 and hearing the way Larry Miller talked about it was pretty cool.
Anyway, you can find the podcast here, if you are interested.
... and, uh, I don't really have an interesting way to end this article and I'm tired so ... see you next week?
I just wanted to whip this graphic up real quick, because it was made official that the Dodgers just let Manny go to the White Sox on a pure waiver claim.
The black lines indicate either of the two possible actions the Dodgers should have taken with Manny this weekend. Obviously, there's risk and reward for either path, as designated by red circles (for negative outcomes) and green circles (for positive ones).
The blue line indicates what actually happened this weekend.
As you can see: the best of both worlds, really.
Look, I understand the player the Dodgers were likely to get back wasn't going to be a top prospect. At this point though, I just wanted something tangible for Manny.
Sure, the $4 million or so in salary relief is nice, in theory... assuming, of course, the money goes back into the team. But, at this point, with these owners (who currently sit in a Los Angeles courtroom arguing over money and control of this team), then who really knows?
There are a couple things I do know, though.
First, and foremost, there is no reason for Hiroki Kuroda, Ted Lilly, Octavio Dotel, George Sherrill, Scott Podsednik, and maybe even Casey Blake to remain on this team. There may be other players that I am forgetting, but these six strike me as the most important ones. (Looking at the roster, I think the guy I'm missing is Vicente Padilla, who can't be moved while on the DL, which is really a shame because his stock was so high earlier this season.)
With Manny gone, whether the front office wants to believe it or not, they've thrown in the towel on this season. As such, there's no reason to continue paying veterans with expiring contracts to help this team to a 4th place, .500 finish. Sell. Sell them all. Get whatever you can. But as the final, final trade deadline approaches tomorrow, none of these six players (five if you don't include Blake who has another year on his contract) should be on the roster.
Here's the second thing I know.
Joe Torre, the manager everyone in the media seems to adore for his ability to win, was managing a .500 team to a 2nd place finish in 2008. That was before Manny came along. Suddenly, the Dodgers start winning. Then, the Dodgers make the playoffs. And then, for the first time in 20 years, the Dodgers win a playoff series.
Now, it's 2010. Joe Torre is still here. There's that constant. Manny isn't. He mostly wasn't. (Though when he was, the Dodgers were 10 games over .500.) It's starting to look like crazy speak to even consider contending for the playoffs at this point.
So, you tell me who is really more important to this team.
Here's the third thing I know.
Ignoring the first five games of a season (when numbers like batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging can fluctuate like crazy due to the low amount of at-bats), Manny has never, not once, had his OPS dip below .800 in his tenure with the Dodgers.
For all the drama about steroids, and injuries, and lack of hustle or heart or whatever similar crap, Manny produced.
For all the hate that Manny received from main stream media (see Bill Plaschke, amongst many others), who turned and praised gritty guys like Juan Pierre, steroids or not, Manny always out-hit them.
Look, I'll admit it. When we acquired Manny, I was not thrilled. One, because we gave up Andy LaRoche (who I still like, despite the fact his career is slowly dying in Pittsburgh). And two, I was real worried he might give up on us (this mind you, in the same season Andruw Jones already had).
Well, now that the Manny era is over, I can say this: He never gave up.
The trade was definitely worth it. Resigning him was absolutely worth it. He made mistakes, sure. He was injured, sure. But up until the very last pitch of his very last at-bat, Manny never gave up on the team or the fans.
He showed up. And he produced.
Well, the week started out nice, didn't it? Sweeping the Brewers, coming back to take the first game from the Rockies. Things were looking good. And then, well, let's just jump into this...
So, in response to a Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness post about what to do with Manny as he came off the DL (play him to raise his value and trade him), I commented this:"I’m with you. I’ve been saying we should’ve sold for a while now. But, just to play Devil’s advocate and throw out a crazy hypothetical here…
Manny gets activated today. He comes back on fire, circa 2008. The offense is rejuvenated. The pitching is still solid. They win 8 of their next 9 and find themselves in 3rd place, four games out of the Wildcard at the start of August 31st. (Or Dodgers split the next two, Manny is activated Tuesday, Dodgers win next 6, etc.)
I mean, I understand there’s about a .76% chance of such a thing happening but this has been my one problem with selling: (and, this is probably because I’m looking at it through the rose colored glasses of a fan) but 8.0 games out in the Wildcard (and not totally in the race) is just one good hotstreak away from suddenly being in the thick of the race.
It’s dangerous thinking, akin to not knowing when to fold in poker, but I’m just wondering how close to the Wildcard leader would we have to be before we decide we shouldn’t sell?"
Some called me crazy. And I can't blame them. It was pretty preposterous. But damn, after Friday night's game, I was starting to more psychic than crazy. The Dodgers had won four in a row, and found themselves 4.5 games back in the Wildcard. They looked like a different team. The hitting was back. The bullpen was back. The pitching was still good.
Then, suddenly, and without warning, suck.
Ok, so, there was warning. Like, when on Saturday, Manny was benched for the third game in a row, for reasons not entirely clear. Joe Torre mumbled something about Scott Podsednik's energy or whatever. Unsurprisingly, Podsednik's energy and the Dodger offense scored one run through eight innings (before Rod Barajas hit a two-run homerun in the 9th to make the final score not look so one-sided).
Or, Sunday, when, apparently, everyone in Dodger management gave up and offered no explanation for Manny's absence from a 4th straight game. Just: he's not starting.
And then things got weird...
Manny came in to pinch hit in the 6th inning of Sunday's game, with the bases loaded and the Dodgers down 6, and he took a called strike on the outside corner. Manny, who has been playing professional baseball since 1991 (ie. He knows that arguing balls and strikes gets you automatically kicked out) then turned and fiercely argued balls and strikes with home plate ump Gary Cederstrom. He was kicked out.
I still don't know what to make of this.
I said on Twitter, I don't want to try and get into another person's head, least of all, Manny Ramirez. But, come on, did Manny really feel that emotional about a questionable first pitch called strike?
Or, did Manny, feeling like the end of his LA playing career was inevitable, and upset with his recent usage, decide to deliver one final 'eff you to Dodgers management? It's not unheard of. I can tell you this, though...
It only makes me like Manny even more.
Yeah, maybe it screwed the Dodgers at an important point within the game (though, let's be honest, the season is, for almost all intents and purposes, dead anyway). And yes, if intentional, it was a childish and unprofessional move.
But, you know what? I don't care.
Manny, if he intentionally got himself kicked out of a game, did to Joe Torre and Ned Colletti what most of us fans have wanted to do all year.
Whether it be the shortsighted, overpaying, and meaningless trades that Ned Colletti made, or the terrible roster decisions, almost thoughtless starting lineups, and horrific bullpen use that Joe Torre has made a staple of this season, I (like I'm guessing many other fans) have wanted to say, for lack of better terms, 'eff you to Dodgers management almost all season.
Manny, by getting kicked out after one pitch, essentially told management, "Screw you guys, I'm going home." (in this case, home = the Chicago White Sox.)
Maybe I'm making too big of a deal about this. Maybe I'm reading too much into it. I can't be 100% sure that what I'm saying is what really went down. But, again, I don't care. I love it. Manny's a folk hero.
Either way, here's what I am sure of: this offense, it's not the same without Manny. That's not to say they can't score runs without Manny, or that with Manny, they are guaranteed to not slump, but the feel is different.
The offense with Manny is a well oiled machine. Without him, it feels like grinding gears.
So, if you want to trade Manny away, do it. It should have been done a month ago, when the returning package would have been much better. But if you are going to trade Manny, don't stop there. Trade Kuroda, Lilly, Sherrill, Dotel, Podsednik, Blake. Trade them all. There's no need for them. We aren't going anywhere, especially without a Manny in the lineup, so why keep these pieces?
I wish there was less indecisiveness. I wish there was more critical thinking. I wish there wasn't so much deceit on what goes on behind the scenes. I wish there weren't so many bad decisions.
I wish we had different people in charge.
Basically, what I'm saying is:
'Eff you, management.
Week 4 was like two weeks in one. There was the really ugly part of the week where the Dodgers were swept by the Mets in New York before coming home and losing the series opener to the Pirates 2-0 on Thursday.
And then there was the second part of the week ... suddenly: Pitching! Hitting! Winning! The Dodgers suddenly turned it on and took the last three games from the Pirates.
Ultimately, though, the Dodgers still went under .500 on the week. The Dodgers are 4-11 on the road this season. On the bright side, they are 7-3 at home, so there's that.
Hiroki Kuroda - Kuroda had two good starts this week. In the first game of the doubleheader against the Mets, Kuroda surrendered just two runs in 6.0 innings. Then on Sunday, Kuroda went 8.0 strong innings against the Pirates allowing just one run. 14.0 innings, three runs. Kuroda has a 2.08 ERA on the season.
Andre Ethier - Andre went 9-26 this week with three walks, two doubles, and four homeruns.
Clayton Kershaw - Kershaw had one start this week, and like last week, it was pretty solid. 6.2 innings, two runs, and seven strikeouts.
Chad Billingsley - Billingsley had a similar week. In his one start, he went 6.0 innings, gave up two runs as well, though Billingsley only struck out four.
Carlos Monasterios - Monasterios had a start this week, too, the first of his major league career, and though he only went four innings, they were quality (just one run on a solo homerun). Plus, add to that the two innings of scoreless relief he pitched Tuesday, and his final line for the week comes to 6.0 innings, one run.
James Loney - Loney's hitting this week kind of paralleled the performance of the Dodgers in general. Loney during the four losses: 1-14 with four strikeouts. Loney during the three wins: 8-11, three doubles, a walk, and a homer. I know that ultimately makes Loney 9-25 on the week, but I'm giving him two stars for a half good week and a half bad week ... because I can.
The two faces of James Loney this week.
Garret Anderson - Another week, another step closer to a DFA for Anderson. 0-7 with four strikeouts. He's now on a 1-26 tear since April 14th. Now, I know I advocated for putting Anderson on the roster when we signed him in Spring Training and I stand by that because the alternative was Doug Mientkiewicz and it seemed we were destined to have an old guy on the roster. However, Mientkiewicz is gone (somewhere) so we don't need to worry about him, and Xavier Paul has looked pretty good in the last week, so here's to hoping we keep Paul over Anderson when the next roster move comes.
Russell Martin - Martin started the year strong but has since seen his numbers starting to dip. He went 3-24 with a homerun and a couple walks.
Martin scoring on one of his hits this week ... because they don't take pictures of people not getting hits.
Casey Blake - Blake had an even worse week than Martin. 1-20 with a couple walks. Maybe it's time to start letting the beard grow again.
The Dodgers went 3-4 on the week, but it still feels like a win because you start to feel like the momentum has shifted.
Of course, it could just be because we played the Pirates, but I'd like to look on the positive side and say we've turned a corner.
Six games coming up at home this week against the Brewers and the Rockies, two teams that should be good but have gotten off to slow starts.
Is this the week? Is this finally the week we get over .500? A guy can hope, right?
What is going on?!
On the heels of Russell Martin announcing he'd be out 4-6 weeks, Cory Wade is going to be out 2 weeks with a shoulder issue, and Casey Blake had to leave today's game because of a strained side muscle.
We're less than a week into Spring Training and everyone is breaking down! Luckily, Blake's injury doesn't seem serious, and Wade will be back before Spring Training is over, but I don't like the bad vibes we're starting this season with.
-----
In other news, this headline from Dodgers.com forced me to come up with a bad joke, that I know I shouldn't share with the outside world, but I just can't help myself.
Well, sure, Martin is easy. Let's see him spell Mientkiewicz.
In this instance, the Dodger offense is Lisa. And I'm the crazy foreign guy.
The Dodgers went down 4-3 today to the Arizona Diamondbacks. And while most of today's blame lays at the feet of Ramon Troncoso, the struggling Dodger offense can not go unnoticed.
Take a look at our results from the last month. At first glance, they look pretty average. In fact, since August 9th, we have gone 16-13. Talk about uninspired baseball.
So what? Yeah, we've been playing kind of lame, but we still went three games over .500 over that span. What's the big deal? The big deal is that we could have done so much more.
Here's the kicker. In the 29 games we've played the last month, Dodgers pitching has not surrendered more than four runs in any game during the nine regulation innings. Yes, there were two instances where the pitching gave up five runs, both coming in the 10th inning. Ok, fine. But let me repeat that first fact, because it bears repeating. No more than four runs a game. For an entire month.
Basically, the Dodgers, if they scored 5 or more runs in the first nine innings a game, could be guaranteed, with 100% accuracy, of winning said game. A guarantee. For an entire month.
I mean, look at it like this. Say, at the beginning of the season, I told you that for a whole month during the season, Dodger pitching would not give up more than four runs in a game. If you looked at our lineup, what would you expect our team would go over that span? 24-5? 25-4? Little better? Little worse? Something like that right? How could a lineup as stacked as ours, from 1-8, not manage to scrape together just five runs a game? Manny is good for one or two. Ethier? Kemp? Blake? They could add one. Maybe Furcal. Or Hudson. Even Loney and Martin. Someone could step up and contribute. Five runs is nothing.
And this is what is tearing me apart. We shouldn't be just 2.5 games in front of Colorado. We shouldn't be playing just above .500 baseball.
With the kind of pitching we're getting, and the kind of offense we're supposed to be getting, we should be destroying the league. Instead, the playoff race is getting uncomfortably close. Like, smelly guy on the bus sitting next to you close.
And the worst part about all this: what do you do about it? What do you say to these guys to make them start getting timely hits again? It's infuriating.
Here's the silver lining, I guess: we still have a 6.5 game lead on the Giants for the wild card.
I just hope we don't have to use it...
Wow. I haven't written an article (non-week recap) in a while. I guess, for right now at least, I'm just going with the flow. The Dodgers are up, they're down, they're up again.
Let's look at this week, for example.
The Dodgers lost the first game in Colorado, and had their division lead cut down to two. Everyone starts to get worried (me included).
We then win the next two games, and leave Colorado on a series win, with a bigger lead in the division race than we came in with.
We go into Cincinnati, take two out of three, and finish the weekend with a division lead of six games on both the Giants and Rockies. Which means, as up and down as we've been in the last month and a half, we've really only lost two or three games on our division rivals. So, with all the run around, and all the drama, we're really back where we started.
In any case, the Dodgers went 4-2 on the trip. ...and look at that, our second week in a row of over .500 baseball.
And that brings us to Round 18 of HOT, COLD, or ROOM TEMPERATURE:
COLD:
- Casey Blake - .158 (3-19), 1 HR, 1 RBI, 4 BBs, 4 Ks - The homerun is nice. Drawing some walks is nice. Most of the rest of his stat line isn't so nice. Come on Blake, pick it up.
- Charlie Haeger - 0-0 (1 start), 15.43 ERA (4 ER in 2.1 IP), 2 HR - Haeger had only one start this week, and got roughed up a little bit during it. It's ok. Knuckleballers are susceptible to getting rocked every now and then. Just rebound in your next start, please.
ROOM TEMPERATURE:
- Rafael Furcal - .250 (7-28), 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBIs, 4 Ks, 2 GiDP - Come on, Furcal, you're supposed to be fast! How do you ground into double plays? Two of them! Still, at least you're hitting the ball a little. .250 isn't pretty, but it's better than .167.
- Andre Ethier - .333 (8-24), 3 2Bs, 2 HRs, 4 RBIs, 7 Ks - Those are nice numbers, I'm not going to lie. However, it's all in context (as I've said too many times before). Ethier had two excellent games to start the week in Colorado (6-8, 2 HRs, 4 RBIs) but went on to finish the road trip in weak fashion (2-16, 6 Ks).
- Vicente Padilla - 1-0 (1 start), 3.60 ERA (2 ER in 5.0 IP), 4 Ks - The start was solid enough. Ideally, you'd like to get a few more innings out of your starter, but he did keep us in the game through five innings. Not great, but solid.
HOT:
- Clayton Kershaw - 0-0 (2 starts), 2.70 ERA (4 ER in 13.1 IP), 17 Ks - Two nice starts for Kershaw this week, after struggling a bit during August. Plus, 17 Ks in 13.1 IP? That's good stuff.
- Randy Wolf - 1-0 (1 start), 1.23 ERA (1 ER in 7.1 IP), 5 Ks - Another quality start for Wolf, who's really adopted the title of staff ace in the last month or so. Nice stat: Wolf has won his last four starts. I guess that's karma for not getting any decisions in the first half.
- Matt Kemp - .360 (9-25), 1 2B, 3 HRs, 8 RBIs, 2-3 SBs - Kemp really put on a show this week, the high point coming in the form of a monster homerun in Cincinnati on Sunday. He also later added a game winning sac-fly. Plus, he's set new career highs in homeruns and RBIs this week. And he's got another month to go. If he keeps this up, he'll have some really, really nice numbers by season's end.
Here comes September, and frankly, it should be easier from this point on. Only six games in all of September against an above .500 team (the Giants). But, we still need to beat up on the teams we should be beating up on, starting tonight against Arizona.
We're back, for another week recap.
Dodgers started the week splitting two games with the Cardinals, before losing the third game and the series.
They started the next series by taking three straight from the Cubs, before the Cubs won the fourth game, avoiding the sweep.
They went 4-3 during the week, going over .500 in a week for the first time in the last month. All things considered, not a terrible week.
Which brings us to Round 17 of HOT, COLD, or ROOM TEMPERATURE:
COLD:
- Rafael Furcal - .167 (5-30), 2 RBIs, 5 Ks - Furcal's season long slump continues. Which begs the question, how long does a slump go in a season before you just declare the season a waste? Furcal's shown some flashes of brilliance recently, but this week was a regression.
- Manny Ramírez - .200 (5-25), 1 2B, 1 RBI, 3 BBs, 5 Ks - Talk about slumping. Manny's been pretty punchless recently (.240 slg this week) but now he's not even getting the regular base hits.
ROOM TEMPERATURE:
- Casey Blake - .250 (6-24), 2 HRs, 4 RBIs, 6 Ks - Not too many hits this week for Blake, but he did drive in some runs, including two on solo homeruns. It's good to see Blake flashing a little power again after hitting only one homerun in 34 games from June 27th to August 6th. He's hit three since then (obviously two in the last week).
HOT:
- Matt Kemp - .333 (7-21), 2 2Bs, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 5 Ks, 1-2 SBs, .905 OPS - A nice week for Kemp, despite blowing his bobblehead night (0-4).
- George Sherrill - 0-0, 1 SV, 2 HLDs (3 games), 0.00 ERA (3.1 IP), 2 Ks - Sherrill collected his first save as a Dodger this week, but this "HOT" is just to acknowledge that Sherrill has been excellent since arriving in L.A. He's appeared in 11 games so far, going 11.2 scoreless innings while holding opponents to a .195 BAA. He's also picked up six holds over that time, plus the save this week.
- Randy Wolf - 1-0 (1 start), 1.29 ERA (1 ER in 7.0 IP), 5 Ks - Only one start this week for Wolf, but another quality one, holding the Cubs to one hit over seven innings. Good stuff.
- Jonathan Broxton - 0-1, 2 SVs, 1 HLD (5 games), 0.00 ERA (1 unearned run in 5.1 IP), 9 Ks - A nice bounce back week for Broxton, the only black mark being the loss he took against the Cardinals, though that could be attributed as much to Russell Martin as to Broxton. Either way, I guess he doesn't need time off like I suggested last week.
- Charlie Haeger - 1-1 (2 starts), 1.93 ERA (3 ER in 14.0 IP), 9 Ks - Haeger had to face the Cardinals' and Cubs' lineups this week, and came out pretty unscathed. In fact, Haeger was probably only two bad pitches away from shutting down both teams this week. For a guy who was just supposed to come up and eat some innings, he's done a lot more than that for the Dodgers. Whether this keeps up or not is yet to be seen, but for now, I'm just going to enjoy watching that knuckleball dance.
Alright, big time series coming up now. Three games in Colorado. The Rockies play later tonight, and depending on how that goes, they could be either 3 or 4 games behind by the end of the night. Looking at the pitching matchups, they seem to favor us, but with the way the Dodgers have been hitting, who knows?
Hey peeps. Another week, another week recap. Let's do it.
The Dodgers started the week strong enough, taking two out of three from the Giants, in San Francisco.
This, however, was followed up by a poor showing in Arizona, where the Dodgers lost their first two games, before beating down the D-Backs in the third game to avoid the sweep.
And with that, let's do Round 16 of HOT, COLD, or ROOM TEMPERATURE:
COLD:
- Casey Blake - .095 (2-21), 1 3B, 5 BBs, 11 Ks - Oh Casey. What happened? Striking out in more than half of your at-bats? That's poor form, Mr. Blake. Poor form, indeed.
- Russell Martin - .091 (2-22), 2 Ks - Russell Martin was moved into the 2nd spot in the lineup at the beginning of the week and responded by not hitting. Not to say he's not trying. Only two strikeouts. He's just not hitting it where they ain't. One of his hits came on Sunday, after he was moved back into the 7 spot. And he also missed another two on good plays by Stephen Drew. Hey, who knows? Maybe this week he'll find a few holes.
- Jonathan Broxton - 13.50 ERA (3 ER in 2.0 IP) 1-2 SVs (2 games), 3 HRs - Broxton is struggling. There's been a lot of talk this week in the blogosphere over what to do with Broxton. Some say promote George Sherrill to closer. Others say leave Broxton alone. Others say, put him on the DL. Frankly, each side has valid arguments. I'm still riding the fence on this, but I'm starting to think that maybe Broxton needs a DL trip. Sherrill has proven himself to be reliable, he can take over the closer role for a few weeks. Broxton has given up a run in four of his last seven outings. He gave up three homeruns this week after giving up only one this entire season. And watch some video of the homeruns. They are bad pitches. Really mis-located fastballs and flat sliders. He's become hittable. So, I propose we give him a couple weeks off now, let him regroup, let him keep off his feet (I know he says his toe isn't a problem, I'm not convinced it isn't the source of all this). Let Broxton relax for a couple weeks, then, bring him back and make him the closer again.
ROOM TEMPERATURE:
- Hiroki Kuroda - 1-0 (2 starts), 1.59 ERA (2 ER in 11.1 IP) - I wasn't entirely sure what to do with Kuroda's week. Statistically, it was an excellent week. In actuality, it was a pretty bad week for Kuroda. You've probably seen it, but just in case, in Kuroda's start against Arizona, he was hit in the head with a comebacker and had to be taken to the hospital. Though, and this also led to my confusion, maybe he should be looking on the bright side. He's not seriously injured, or worse. The x-rays and scans came back negative, so he'll live to fight another day. When that day will be is yet to be seen, but above all, his recovery is the most important thing. So, good for his stats, bad that he got hit, good that he wasn't seriously hurt. (P.S. SoSG takes an interesting look at Kuroda's pitching mechanics. It's easy to see how what happened was probable.)
- Manny Ramírez - .348 (8-23), 2 2Bs, 1 HR, 3 RBIs, 3 BBs, 7 Ks - Yeah, Manny hit .348 this week, but like I warned last week, it's all in context. Manny had three good games this week (2-4, 2-3, 3-4), and three bad games (0-3, 1-5, 0-4). He's riding a weird roller coaster, showing up and looking good in one game, then coming back the very next day, going 0-3 and striking out twice. Just odd.
HOT:
- Andre Ethier - .440 (11-25), 3 2Bs, 1 HR, 7 RBIs, 1.180 OPS - Ethier continues to hit extra base hits, and drive in runs, but after being pretty good for the last month and a half or so, he's finally starting to see that average rise again (up to .281 as of today). Also, he continues to be clutch, adding a huge game-tying base hit in game three of the San Francisco series (that was lost in extra innings by the bullpen) to his series of late-inning hits this season.
- Randy Wolf - 2-0 (2 starts), 2.30 ERA (4 ER in 15.2 IP), 13 Ks - And the stats don't tell the whole story. When you look at the box score for Sunday's game, you see Wolf went 7.2 IP, giving up three earned runs. And while that's nice, the final line is almost a slap to the face of the game Wolf actually pitched, holding the D-Backs to 1 hit over seven innings, retiring 20 in a row, striking out 10. And on top of that, Wolf went 4-8 at the plate this week, with a double, a homerun, and three RBIs. Overall, not too bad a week.
Tough couple of series coming up. Cardinals and Cubs. I'm going to the game tonight. I'll get to see a knuckleballer! Charlier Haeger is going against the Cardinals. It might not be pretty, but it should be interesting.
Whew. That was not a good week. Let's take a look at it.
The Dodgers started the week splitting two with the Brewers, before losing the third game, and the series.
They came back to win the first game in the series against Atlanta, in walk-off fashion. Then, they proceeded to lose the next three, and the series.
The Dodgers went 2-5 on the week.
Wow, we're already to Round 15 of HOT, COLD, or ROOM TEMPERATURE. Time is just flying by.
COLD:
- Guillermo Mota - 0-1 (4 games), 9.00 ERA (4 ER in 4.0 IP), 5 H, 3 BBs, 3 Ks - Is this it?! Is this the meltdown?! I knew it was coming!!! Ok, I'll calm down. I'm not saying Mota is regressing. I'm just upset that I was finally starting to trust him, and now he's gone and abused my trust. Still, it was a bad week, and I'm willing to forgive. I just need an performace upgrade from Mota.
- Ramon Troncoso - 0-1 (4 games), 27.00 ERA (6 ER in 2.0 IP), 5 H, 1 BB, 1 K - Hey, guess who else had a bad week? Yeah, Troncoso got lit up this week. You have to wonder if this is a sign that possibly Troncoso has already been used too much this year.
- James Loney - .125 (3-24), 1 2B, 2 RBIs, 4 BBs, 7 Ks - Loney didn't hit this week. There you have it. Ok, let me rephrase. Loney hasn't hit since Wednesday. 0 for his last 13. 1 for his last 20. Those are just some ugly, ugly numbers.
- Jason Schmidt - 0-1 (1 start), Bad. - Schmidt is gone, almost as fast as he came. On the DL with bad.
ROOM TEMPERATURE:
- Andre Ethier - .241 (7-29), 2 2Bs, 1 3B, 1 HR, 6 RBIs, 5 BBs, 5 Ks - Ethier has certainly slowed down. That's not to say he's come to a halt. Despite the .241 batting average, he still had an OPS of .854. Plus, 6 RBIs on 7 hits? He's getting the hits when they count. That includes getting the big three run, game winning homerun in the first game against Atlanta, which eventually turned out the be the only way we avoided a four game sweep against Atlanta.
- Manny Ramírez - .320 (8-25), 3 2Bs, 1 HR, 4 RBIs, 2 BBs, 7 Ks - Sure, .320 doesn't look to bad, but it's all in context. Manny had three good games this week, and three bad games. And in between it all, he managed to leave 14 runners on base during the week, so the 4 RBIs does seem kinda weak in comparison.
- Clayton Kershaw - 0-1 (2 starts), 2.45 ERA (3 ER in 11.0 IP), 7 BBs, 16 Ks - Again, all in context. Kershaw had a bad start this week, only going 4.0 IP, while giving up three runs on four hits and SIX walks. He did rebound, however, and go seven scoreless innings against Atlanta, walking one, and striking out 10. I've explained this before, but just to remind you: Good start + Bad start = Room Temperature week.
HOT:
- James McDonald - 0-0 (3 games), 0.00 ERA (6.1 IP), 4 Ks - A nice week for McDonald, which is good because he hasn't had a lot of those this year. Also nice: He hasn't surrendered a run in his last 9.1 IP.
- Casey Blake - .375 (9-24), 3 2Bs, 1 HR, 6 RBIs, 3 BBs, 1 SB, 1.054 OPS - The real reason Prince Fielder charged the Dodger clubhouse? Casey Blake slapped him across the face with a white glove and challenged him to a knife fight. Fielder would get a knife. Blake would use his hands. This all happened because Blake felt Fielder gave him a weird look after Blake drew a 6th inning walk, and that is something that you do not do. Casey Blake is... the most interesting 3rd Baseman in the World.
That's how bad a week it was, only two people in the HOT column. This week is a big one for us. Three games in San Francisco against the Giants, who now find themselves 5.5 games back in the division. A series win would be a nice showing. A sweep? That would be a Casey Blake white glove slap to the face.
Who's ready for a knife fight?
Hello again. It's Monday, time for a week recap, so let's do it.
The Dodgers started out the week in a weak fashion, losing their first three games in St. Louis, and losing three games and four games in a row for the first time this season. They did avoid a sweep though, by beating the Cardinals in the 4th game of the series. They have yet to be swept this season.
They followed up the St. Louis series by taking two games out of three in Atlanta to go 3-4 on the week.
And with that, let's do Round 14 of HOT, COLD, or ROOM TEMPERATURE:
COLD:
- Brent Leach - 0-0 (2 games), an ERA of infinity (4 ER), and a demotion - Nothing could go right for Leach this week. He made two appearances in the St. Louis series, both times failing to record an out, both times surrendering at least a run. And, to make matters worse for him, he was sent to AAA. He'd obviously been struggling (an ERA of 31.50 in his last 7 games, or 2.0 IP). Hopefully, he can straighten out whatever problems he's having down there.
- Manny Ramírez - .172 (5-29), 2 2Bs, 5 BBs, 9 Ks - It's been a pretty bad week for Manny. In fact, since the Manny-Slammy (or rather, the Cincinnati series in which he was struck in the hand), Manny has been hitting .162 (with a .495 OPS). It makes you wonder if that hand might be affecting him more than he's letting on.
ROOM TEMPERATURE:
- Chad Billingsley - 1-1 (2 starts), 5.06 ERA (6 ER in 10.2 IP), 7 BBs, 14 Ks - Another up and down week for Billingsley. His first start in St. Louis: 5.2 IP, 6 ER, though, in fairness, he was doing really well until the 6th. Things started looking up for Chad in his next start in Atlanta: 5.0 IP, 0 ER. That was until he had to leave early due to a cramp in his hamstring. It doesn't seem to be too bad, it just sucks for Chad, who was kinda on a roll in the Atlanta game.
HOT:
- Rafael Furcal - .333 (11-33), 1 2B, 4 RBIs, 2 BBs, 1 SB - Furcal had a nice week. I'm not sure he's ever going to fully turn it on this season and hit like he was at the beginning of 2008, but if he continues to have nice weeks like this, it'll definitely help.
- Jason Schmidt - 1-0 (1 start), 0.00 ERA (0 ER in 6.0 IP), 5 BBs, 3 Ks - What? What?! We got a productive start out of Jason Schmidt? WHAT??! Yeah. He probably surrendered too many walks, sure, but he shut down the Braves for six innings and gave his team the chance to win. That's really all that we can ask. But wow... a productive start... from Jason Schmidt?! Who'd have thunk it?
- Casey Blake - .440 (11-25), 2 2Bs, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 2 BBs, 4 runs - I'm glad Blake had a good week so I can bring back his most interesting facts. Casey Blake once traded his General Manager at the trade deadline... and got the other team to surrender $2 million in cash considerations. Casey Blake is... the most interesting 3rd baseman in the World.
- Andre Ethier - .300 (9-30), 2 2Bs, 2 HR, 5 RBIs, 5 BBs, 4 Ks, 1 SB - Another good week for Ethier. Still collecting hits, still driving in runs, and walking more than striking out. Nice.
- Clayton Kershaw - 0-0 (1 start), 0.00 ERA (0 ER in 8.0 IP), 7 Ks - Unfortunate for Kershaw that he didn't pick up the win in his start this week, because he totally deserved it. He shut down the Cardinals in the longest start of his career. July was a good month in general for Kershaw. He went 3-0 in six starts with a 0.71 ERA. He struck out 34 in 38.0 IP. Just three earned runs. In the entire month! Very nice work.
Speaking of Kershaw, he's goes tonight against the Brewers. After what was probably the toughest road trip for the Dodgers this season, they're home this week to take on the Brewers for three, and the Braves (again?) for four.
Then, on to San Francisco. But that's for another week recap. See you then.
Ok, let's do the hitters now.
And again, we'll use the good old system of COLD, HOT, or ROOM TEMPERATURE:
COLD:
- Rafael Furcal - .256, 4 HR, 21 RBIs, 36 BBs, 49 Ks, 5-9 SBs, .682 OPS - What happened to the guy who came out of the gates last year as a potential MVP candidate? He just hasn't been there this year. At least, on the bright side, he's been better since Manny's return. Take a look at our offense now, and imagine adding a Furcal in full swing. It could be scary.
- Russell Martin - .258, 2 HR, 27 RBIs, 48 BBs, 54 Ks, 8-12 SBs, .688 OPS - The really sad thing is that you look at our struggling lead-off hitter's numbers and realize they're almost the same numbers as another guy who most people thought would be a strong part of our offense this season. Neither one is really hitting. Both have more strikeouts than walks. Neither are stealing bases at a high enough percentage. Very few homeruns and RBIs, bad averages and OPS. These are ugly numbers.
ROOM TEMPERATURE:
- Manny Ramírez - .355, 9 HR, 29 RBIs, 31 BBs, 21 Ks, 1.156 OPS - This is a weird one. Yes, Manny was gone for 50 games. And yes, it probably hurt us. But for God's sake, he's out-hitting Martin! I can't label him "COLD." He was gone, sure, but whenever he is here, he's still an amazing hitter.
- Orlando Hudson - .283, 7 HR, 48 RBIs, 38 BBs, 64 Ks, 6 SBs, .779 OPS - Hudson's had two seasons. There was All-Star Hudson, who in April and May hit .332, had a .877 OPS, and hit for the cycle. Then there's flailing Hudson, who after the beginning of June has hit .205, with a .618 OPS. On the bright side, he has hit more homeruns in the second part, so... that's something.
- Andre Ethier - .250, 18 HR, 56 RBIs, 39 BBs, 69 Ks, .813 OPS - It's so weird how I love some parts of Either's stats, and hate other parts. I love the 18 HRs and 56 RBIs. I hate the .250 average, and the 69 strikeouts. Ethier isn't looking like Andre Ethier, so much as he's looking like Adam Dunn. And it's a little odd.
HOT:
- Juan Pierre - .328, 19 BBs, 19 Ks, 23-31 SBs, .804 OPS - Pierre's two seasons have been well documented. I won't rehash them. The point remains, Pierre took over well during Manny's absence. And look at the OPS. It's not great compared to other people, but it's 83 points higher than his career average, so... that's something.
- Casey Blake - .285, 12 HRs, 55 RBIs, 36 BBs, 62 Ks, .850 OPS - Blake even added two stolen bases this first half, in one game! Which reminds me... He could steal 100 bases in a season, but chooses not to, because he doesn't like to dirty his beard. Casey Blake is... the Most Interesting 3rd Baseman in the World.
- James Loney - .281, 7 HRs, 54 RBIs, 37 BBs, 36 Ks, 6-7 SBs, .752 OPS - The OPS is ugly, but I like the RBI numbers and I like the BB to K ratio. I even like the stolen bases. Not bad. And call it a hunch, but I'm feeling a good second half coming for Loney.
- Matt Kemp - .320, 11 HR, 50 RBIs, 34 BBs, 78 Ks, 19-23 SBs, .879 OPS - I don't care that you didn't get named to the team, you're my All-Star, Kemp. Those are some excellent numbers. The one black mark being the 78 strikeouts. However, he makes up for it in my book with another nice stat: 10 outfield assists so far this season. Nice. Kemp is slowly blossoming into the guy we all thought he could be. A true 5-tool player.
Okey dokey folks. There's your first half. Now, to enjoy the All-Star game.
By the way, in case you haven't noticed it yet, I've started a Twitter account. I'm going to try and live-blog during Dodger games and other baseball events. If you have a Twitter account, follow me. Please. Don't make me beg.
On the bright side, Uribe did end up the star of one of the best baseball memes of the season.
