Whilst reading the articles on Dodgers.com, something struck me as rather odd, and perhaps disturbing.
You see, the Dodgers are looking at possibly carrying up to five non-roster players on the Opening Day 25-man.
That's good, I do like the occasional reclamation project. Five might be too many, but still, I can live with it.
Let's take a look at who's in the running: Doug Mientkiewicz and Juan Castro. Ok... I'd rather keep Delwyn Young around, but Mientkiewicz and Castro are having good Springs, they are pretty good defensively, and they are versatile. I can live with these two on the roster.
Who else do we have?
Either Erick Threets or Brian Mazone will probably make the roster as the second left handed reliever. I did read another story that Will Ohman was working out for the Dodgers, and I'd like to go with him, but if we don't sign him, Mazone has had an excellent Spring and Threets is young and has some good stuff. I'd be ok with either as the lefty outta da pen.
Oh, here's a name: Jeff Weaver. He's not had a great Spring, a 7.00 ERA in eight appearances over 9.0 innings. Ummm... maybe not a great choice to make it off the non-roster invitee list. Especially because there's a couple of guys who've had better Springs as reliever, but hey, maybe Torre wants to go with a proven (kinda) name like Weaver over a Nick DeBarr (5.06 ERA in eight games, 5.1 innings), Jesus Castillo (3.86 ERA in four games, 4.2 innings), or Charlie Haeger (2.08 ERA in four games, 4.1 innings). Fine. I guess we can go with Weaver as the long relief/12th guy out of the bullpen kinda role. Why not? How much damage can he do?
Alright, that's four. Who's the fifth guy...
What? WHAT?
"The way manager Joe Torre is talking... Tanyon Sturtze... [is] alive in competition for [a job] as Spring Training winds down."
WHAT?!?
No!
"Oh hai dere! I'm just here to ruin your 25-man roster."
NO!!!
No Tanyon Sturtze! This was the guy last year, that when Designated for Assignment, opted instead to linger around with the club than pitch in the minors or look for another job.
He was the pitching coach last year in the final game of the season, which I thought meant he had practically retired.
Sturtze has a 5.14 ERA in nine games (7.0 innings) this Spring, which admittedly sounds not bad (though not really good for that matter, either). He's been better than Jeff Weaver, but still not better than any of the three names I previously mentioned (DeBarr, Castillo, Haeger).
Hell, if we're going down this road, I'd rather give Ramon Troncoso the job. He's got near similar numbers, but I think he's still got something left in the tank. He's got a 5.19 ERA in eight games (8.2 innings) this Spring.
But if we're going with Sturtze, here's the thing you don't get from Sturtze in his ERA, he's given up two walks and 11 HITS in his 7.0 innings of work. 
He's only given up four earned runs, but SIX runs overall. Sturtze's 5.14 ERA is much better than his performance indicates.
So why in the world is Sturtze getting possible consideration for a spot on the 25-man roster and in the bullpen?
This is the thing about Joe Torre that absolutely kills me. He plays favorites to no end. The article inadvertently (maybe not?) admits it.
"Three of them -- Weaver, Sturtze and Mientkiewicz -- played for Torre with the Yankees."
It's this crazy inclination on going with the veteran who doesn't have a lot left in the tank over a kid who shows promise. And while this is great for guys like Mientkiewicz, Weaver, and (*shiver*) Sturtze, guys like Delwyn Young and Charlie Haeger are screwed out of jobs, their only crime being that they aren't old enough to have played under Torre before.
And sometimes that just makes you stop and say: "What?!?"
Player: Terry Tiffee
2008 Stats: .250 (1-4)
2008 Analysis: Terry Tiffee is technically a 3rd baseman. That's the position he played most of the year in the minors. However, for the week and a half he actually got to play in the majors, he got five pinch hit appearances (he was hit by a pitch in one at-bat) and played one inning in left field.
Joe Torre had a bad issue managing players this year when it came to deciding how many chances a player should get. He gave some players way too many chances. For example, he gave some players 92 at-bats over an entire season when they clearly couldn't hit... anything...
On the other hand, Torre didn't give certain players enough chances. For example, some players only got 59 at-bats over a month and a half and then were shipped away.
Tiffee was definitely on the end of the not-enough-chances spectrum. He hit in the high .300s in the minors for most of the year. He was a switch hitter. He could play left field, as well as first and third.
And in 2008, he was put into six games before being Designated for Assignment.
2009 Outlook: Tiffee is a free agent. If he can't find work anywhere else, I wouldn't mind bringing him back with a minor league contract and an invite to Spring Training. If for some reason Delwyn Young can't be our pinch hitter off the bench next year, I would gladly hand that job over to Tiffee.
Player: Delwyn Young
2008 Stats: .246 (31-126), one homerun, seven RBIs
2008 Analysis: Young played a little right field, a little left field, and a little 2nd in 2008. He wasn't bad off the bench. He went 14-48 in pinch hitting appearances (.292) with eight walks and four RBIs.
2009 Outlook: Young has always shown potential in the minors, hitting for good average. He showed this year he could be a solid solution as a pinch hitter. Plus, he's a switch hitter, so you can't mess him up with a lefty specialist. I would like to see him back next year as a backup corner outfielder/maybe 2nd baseman.
The Dodgers were shut down for the most part by Brandon Webb and fall in the first game of this four game set.
Brandon Webb got the win, he's 15-4. Derek Lowe took the loss, he's 8-9. Brandon Lyon picked up his 23rd save.
Derek Lowe pitched a good enough game. He went 6 and 1/3 innings, giving up just two runs on seven hits while striking out seven. He also collected nine groundball outs. 
Hong-Chih Kuo struck out two over a scoreless inning and 2/3. Cory Wade struck out one in a perfect 9th.
The Dodgers managed to collect only seven hits on the day. Juan Pierre went 2-3 with a run scored. Russell Martin went 1-4 and had the only RBI on the day. The rest of the hits were scattered about between several other players.
The Dodgers fall back to .500 while the Diamondbacks are now four games over. They've taken a two game lead on the Dodgers now in the NL West. The Dodgers will try to take a game back tomorrow at 7:40 L.A. time.
Also: Matt Kemp went 1-4 to extend his hitting streak to 18 games... Perhaps I was wrong about this one: Mark Sweeney now has two hits in his last two at-bats, raising his average to .119
Opinion: Today was the last day of the old Dodgers, Manny Ramírez should be in L.A. tomorrow in time for the game to save us all! Seriously though, this isn't a litmus test for the season: the Dodgers have never hit well against Brandon Webb (9-3 career lifetime against us with a 2.65 ERA in 15 starts). Tomorrow will be an interesting game. Will Manny adjust to the National League right away? I guess we'll find out. Meanwhile, Tony Jackson of the L.A. Daily News speculates that Delwyn Young could be Designated For Assignment to open a roster spot for Manny. God, I hope not. He also said it's a possibility Sweeney could be DFA'd. I'd like to think that would be the logical move, but then again, there haven't been too many logical moves this year to set a precedent (ie. playing certain people in center field for so long holding on to hope they'll pull our of their season long slump, starting Juan Pierre in left field constantly [which coincidentally, I wouldn't be surprised to see continue], or creating a gaping hole in our infield for next season), so why start now?
The Dodgers were unable to mount any offense until the 9th inning, but by then, it was too little too late as they lose the game and fall a game behind the Diamondbacks.
Dan Haren got the win, he's 9-5. Chad Billingsley lost, he's 9-9. Brandon Lyon picked up his 20th save.
Billingsley had an average start stats wise, but was unimpressive in general. He went 5 and 2/3 innings on 114 pitches. He gave up seven hits and three walks, but was lucky only to give up three runs. 
Joe Beimel followed with 1 and 1/3 innings of scoreless ball and Cory Wade pitched a scoreless 8th to keep the D-Backs to three runs.
Dan Haren, meanwhile, kept the Dodger offense in check, allowing only six baserunners over seven innings of work while striking out seven. The Dodgers finally broke through in the 9th against Arizona closer Brandon Lyon. Jeff Kent hit a monster homerun to left center field and Delwyn Young had a huge double of the big wall in center field to plate a second run, but after getting to 3rd base with two outs, Matt Kemp flew out to right to end the game.
The Dodgers will try tomorrow to win the rubber match of the series, and get themselves back into a 1st place tie.
The Dodgers struggles against the American League continued as the Dodgers were not able to muster much offense against Mark Buehrle.
Mark Buehrle got the win, he's 5-6. Derek Lowe took the loss, he's 5-7.
Derek Lowe got in trouble quickly, giving up a run in each of the first two innings before settling down and shutting down the White Sox until the 8th inning. He then gave up a two-run homerun to Jermaine Dye, followed by a single to Nick Swisher before being pulled. Cory Wade was unable to offer much relief, however, and allowed another two more runs to score before ending the inning.
The Dodgers offense did not fair much better. Mark Buehrle effectively shut down the Dodgers throughout the game giving up just six hits and one earned run over eight innings. He struck out two while collecting 15 groundball outs. The one run came from Delwyn Young, who hit his first homerun of the season in the bottom of the 5th inning. The Dodgers five other hits were all singles. James Loney collected one of those singles and brought his hitting streak up to 11 games.
A few other notes. Russell Martin made a pretty good defensive play in the 4th innings. Derek Lowe got in trouble, and with runners on second and third, he induced a groundball to Andy LaRoche at third. LaRoche fired home to Martin who used his left leg to expertly block out Pablo Ozuna coming home and apply the tag for the out. It was a good defensive play on a bad offensive night. Mark Buehrle, by the way, collected the 1,000th strikeout of his career with his two strikeouts today. His 1,000th came against Mark Sweeney.
Good news and bad news. Good news: The Dodgers finally break out of their offensive slump. Bad news: Their pitching falls apart. They've now lost four straight.
Brad Penny is handed the loss, he's 5-9. Eddie Bonine gets the win, he's 1-0.
On the day the Dodgers finally score some runs, Brad Penny is not able to keep them in the game. Penny was given a 1-0 lead before he gave up a run. He was then given a 4-1 lead before he gave up six more runs to let the Dodgers fall behind 7-4. Penny walked two, gave up seven hits (including two two-run homeruns) and struck out nobody before being pulled in the fourth inning. Scott Proctor followed it up by pitching a shaky two innings, in which he gave up four runs (albeit only one earned). Takashi Saito pitched the 8th inning giving up a run as well.
And all this on a day when the Dodgers pulled together seven runs on 13 hits. In fact, the only two Dodgers today to not get a hit: Juan Pierre and Mark Sweeney *cough* see previous post *cough* Ok, ok, Sweeney drew a walk... but still. James Loney continued his streak of getting an extra base hits. He went 3-5 today with two doubles. 
He's collected an extra base hit in his last three games. Andre Ethier flashed a little power: he went 2-4 with a homerun, ground-rule double, and four RBIs. The homerun was Ethier's sixth, putting him in second place on the team. Delwyn Young collected three hits, as well, and raised his average to a solid .300.
On an interesting side note, some of the younger Dodgers chose to wear their socks old-school style, up over the shins. James Loney, Russell Martin, Blake DeWitt, Delwyn Young, and Andre Ethier all joined in on the fashion statement. I don't know if it was a sign of solidarity or just a way to try and bust out of an offensive slump but if it'll help them score seven runs a game, I say keep it up. Whatever works... In any case, a showing of Dodger offense was squandered by poor pitching. What remains to be seen is if this offense can carry over into tomorrow. The Dodgers haven't been able to find that consistent hitting. Since the beginning of June, here's the amount of runs they've scored per game: 1, 8, 0, 1, 4, 3, 7, 1, 7, 1, 0, 0, 7. They move up and down like a roller coaster. We'll have to see how they come out tomorrow.
Clayton Kershaw will take on Nate Robertson at 10:05 L.A. time.
Let's take a look at who's in the running: Doug Mientkiewicz and Juan Castro. Ok... I'd rather keep Delwyn Young around, but Mientkiewicz and Castro are having good Springs, they are pretty good defensively, and they are versatile. I can live with these two on the roster.
Oh, here's a name: Jeff Weaver. He's not had a great Spring, a 7.00 ERA in eight appearances over 9.0 innings. Ummm... maybe not a great choice to make it off the non-roster invitee list. Especially because there's a couple of guys who've had better Springs as reliever, but hey, maybe Torre wants to go with a proven (kinda) name like Weaver over a Nick DeBarr (5.06 ERA in eight games, 5.1 innings), Jesus Castillo (3.86 ERA in four games, 4.2 innings), or Charlie Haeger (2.08 ERA in four games, 4.1 innings). Fine. I guess we can go with Weaver as the long relief/12th guy out of the bullpen kinda role. Why not? How much damage can he do?
"Oh hai dere! I'm just here to ruin your 25-man roster."
He was the pitching coach last year in the final game of the season, which I thought meant he had practically retired.
He's only given up four earned runs, but SIX runs overall. Sturtze's 5.14 ERA is much better than his performance indicates.
