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?
It was apparently decided a few days back that Garret Anderson would be taking the left handed pinch hitting role over Doug Mientkiewicz.
Now, this really shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone, but a still shocked Mientkiewicz supposedly left camp when he heard the news ... which is interesting because I just read this blurb in ESPN Magazine from Kim Ng on cutting players:
"Reactions vary. Young guys are rarely rattled; they expect it. Vets who know it's time to hang it up go proudly. But some guys do get upset. We tell them to take the day off and talk with friends."
Now, you would think a guy like Mientkiewicz would be one of the vets who knows it's time to hang it up. Nope, turns out he's more a guy who gets upset. And apparently, Mientkiewicz went and talked with his friends, and they decided his battle plan should be to act like a douche.
Mientkiewicz came back today demanding his release, which would be well and good, if he didn't follow that up by making a scene.
"...they won't give me [my release] because they say if Garret Anderson blows out his hamstring, I'm the pinch-hitter.
...So I'm not bitter or pouting, but I feel like the Shawshank Redemption. Let me go. No place I'd rather be than with the Los Angeles Dodgers. But I'm not one of the 25. I'm OK with that. I get it. Then, why hold onto me?"
First of all, nice job of throwing the coaching staff under the bus with Anderson. Somewhere, Garret is sobbing to himself, wondering why nobody has faith in his hamstring.
"Don't I have feelings, too?"
Second, why is this so hard to understand? They want to keep you around as an insurance policy, in case, as you so delicately put it, Anderson blows out his hamstring. Is that really that crazy an idea? What?! A backup?! This is unheard of!
Third, what's the motivation to keep playing? The fact that Torre wants to keep you around in case something happens to Anderson is actually pretty high praise.
I mean, you haven't shown any indication that you can throw anything other than lobs with that injured shoulder of yours ... so there's no way that could be problematic; is there anything stopping a runner from going 1st to 3rd on a fielder's choice when you are playing?
On the other hand, you went 7-24 (with two doubles!) this Spring (mostly as a late inning replacement, so really that's against the #83s and #97s of the world), so at least the mediocre hitting is still there.
At least you can still catch a ball ... I guess you've got that going for you...
Oh, and finally, Shawshank Redemption?! Really? You have an opt-out clause in your contract that can be enacted on Friday, so yeah, that's a lot like serving consecutive life sentences in a depressing prison with only Morgan Freeman to help you get through your ordeal.
He can probably make throws across the diamond better than Mientkiewicz.
What I'm saying is, give it a rest Doug.
If there's strong interest today amongst other teams in a 35 year old first baseman who can't throw and can only hit .292 against scrubs, but who can catch the ball like the dickens, then they'll still be interest on Friday.
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EDIT: It's Friday. Mientkiewicz was released. Good luck in finding a job, Doug. Hope these last six days didn't ruin your blossoming career.
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.
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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.
...make it Garret Anderson!
The Dodgers added Anderson today on a minor league contract, and he'll supposedly compete with Brian Giles and Doug Mientkiewicz for the role of 5th outfielder/left handed batter off the bench.
Now, we can debate whether or not we really need a 5th outfielder1 or if we could fill the role of left handed batter with a better option than one of the aforementioned.2
1. We don't.
2. We could.
...however, we do have Joe Torre as a manager, so having an old busted up veteran to fill the unnecessary role is almost a guarantee.
So, who to pick out of the three? All three are pretty much question marks.
Mientkiewicz only had 18 at-bats last year, and wasn't bad, but that's such a small sample size, you can't draw anything from it. He still deserves a spot and a chance in Spring Training, but for the purposes of this discussion, I'm going to rule him out.
I mean, come on, this was the highlight of his season.
So that brings us to Brian Giles and Garret Anderson.
Brian Giles had a horrid season last year, splitting half the time being injured and the other half being a terrible hitter. I've said it before, but his numbers last year (.191, 2 HR, .548 OPS!) dipped into Andruw Jones-ian territory. And that's not 20 at-bats. That's 225 at-bats! That's a good 2/5th's of a season.
Garret Anderson, on the other hand, has been slowly melting, statistically speaking. Average, On-Base Percentage, Slugging, and Homeruns have been on a downward trend the last three years. So, now the question is, has he bottomed out, or does he still have room to slide more?
Between the last two, Giles has far bigger upside, in that, if he returns to form as the Brian Giles of old, he can make a huge impact on the team. However, I'm going to say there's only a 10% chance of that happening, whereas with Anderson, I feel like we know what we can get from him.
I'm going to go out on a limb here (so Anderson can screw me over) and say that I think Anderson has fallen to his lowest level. Anderson hit .268 (.705 OPS) with 13 HRs in a weak 2009 season and I feel that's probably similar to what he would do if we threw him out there everyday in 2010, which would be really terrible if he was going to be our starting left fielder, but not the worst thing if you are going to make him a left handed pinch hitter, a la Jim Thome.
Basically, what I'm saying is, if we absolutely, positively, gots-to have a 5th outfielder/left handed pinch hitter/old person, then I'm ok with Garret Anderson for the job.
"I'm your man!"
Alright, let's talk about a couple things that have gone down recently.
Jamey Carroll signed with the Dodgers for two years and I am apathetic. Carroll's an average bat, and not bad with the glove. It kind of goes down like this: if Carroll is our starting 2nd baseman, we're in trouble. If Carroll fills the role that Mark Loretta had last year, then we are better off. Either way, the contract is only two years and it's under $4 million, so it's not a bad signing.
The Dodgers also added Luis Ayala on the cheap. As Mike at MSTI points out, Ayala's been (in Mike's words) a "monumental jackass." He did a write up about Ayala here. I don't like how much of a jackass Ayala is, but I'm not worried much about him affecting clubhouse chemistry or anything. The brilliant thing about Joe Torre is, say what you will about his coaching style but the man knows how to control a clubhouse. I don't think Ayala will be a problem. He might suck at pitching, but that's another story...
Speaking of adding players on the cheap, Diamond Leung reported on his Twitter that the Dodgers also brought back Doug Mientkiewicz and Ángel Berroa on minor league deals. I like Mientkiewicz, he's not great, but he's an okay option as a backup to Loney or being a left handed bat off the bench. If we have to use Berroa, I'm going to be off-put.
Off-putting.
And finally, Juan Pierre is gone, and he's still getting on my nerves. When Dylan Hernandez covered the Pierre trade for the L.A. Times, he went to Pierre to get some quotes. Here's a piece of the article:
"'I've been in the witness protection program for the last two years.'
Pierre said he didn't consider his last three years a waste.
'When I first signed with them, people were like, 'What in the world were they thinking?' ' he said. 'I've been criticized so much in the last three years, so I'm ready for the Chicago media. All in all, it's made me a stronger person.'"
Long sigh...
"Witness protection"? You appeared in 264 of 324 games the last two years and started 162 of those games. You weren't a ghost.
And I'm glad this whole experience made you "a stronger person." Guess what, Juan? You were getting paid millions upon millions of dollars to play baseball, so take a little criticism in the media.
And by the way, most of the things I see about you in the media are complementary. Writers and television announcers have had almost nothing but praise for your "grittiness" or "baseball attitude" or whatever.
You're a baseball player, not a pariah. Get over yourself.
Ok folks, back for another week recap. Let's do it.
Dodgers started the week at home, taking on the A's for a three game series. They split the first two close games before taking the rubber match to take the series.
They then made the looooooong trek to Anaheim to take on the Angels. They again split the first two games, before coming back to take the third game in the series.
They went 4-2 on the week.
And now, we will take part in Round 10 of HOT, COLD, or ROOM TEMPERATURE:
COLD:
- Jonathan Broxton - 0-0, 1 save (3 games), 10.80 ERA (4 ER in 3.1 ip), 5 hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks - Now, let's be clear. I don't mean this to be an indictment of Broxton. I still like him, I still think he's good. This labeling of "COLD" is more like a worried "COLD." He had a good outing against Oakland, but then started having some toe issues. He couldn't pitch in a few games. Then, when he came back in these last two games against the Angels, he was surprisingly hit-able. He still got the job done, but the Angels were ripping a couple hits against him. So again, this "COLD" isn't so much to say Broxton is bad, but more to say I'm worried his toe might cause some problems for us in the near future. Here's to hoping it heals up.
ROOM TEMPERATURE:
- Andre Ethier - .250 (6-24), 1 2B, 1 3B, 5 RBIs, 2 BBs, 4 Ks - Ethier has cooled down a little bit, but I like that the few hits he's getting are clutch hits. He's had some good ones with runners in scoring position, hence the 5 RBIs on just 6 hits this week. I'm really interested to see how Ethier will react to Manny's return in the coming weeks.
- Russell Martin - .294 (5-17), 1 HR, 1 RBI, 6 BBs, 4 runs - Well, at least Martin is keeping it interesting. After starting the week 0-7, then 2-12, he capped off the week going 3-5 with 3 BBs. He also notched his first homerun of the year. He chalked that up to picking up Doug Mientkiewicz's leg kick. Ok. If it works. It's also possible he just nailed a fat fastball for that homerun. Either way. Like I said, this is interesting. We definitely have to see where this goes.
HOT:
- Jeff Weaver - 1-0 (1 start), 3.60 ERA (2 ER in 5.0 IP), 4 Ks - Ok, so Weaver didn't have the best start ever, but he beat his brother. His younger brother. And as an older brother myself, I'm glad Weaver represented. Sometimes, you just gotta show your little brother who's still got the seniority in the family. The only disappointing thing was this wasn't a National League game. I would have loved to see the two Weavers trying to strike each other out. Too bad.
- Casey Blake - .308 (8-26), 1 2B, 5 RBIs, 3 BBs, 5 runs - He led the 1985 Hiroshima Toyo Carp team to a League Title, at the age of 12, because he didn't want a summer job. Casey Blake is... the most interesting third baseman in the world.
- Matt Kemp - .429 (9-21), 1 2B, 2 RBIs, 3 runs, 4-5 SBs - Not much else to say. Kemp's been hitting the ball. Been stealing some bases. Been scoring some runs. Been good.
- Clayton Kershaw - 1-0 (2 starts), 0.00 ERA (0 ER in 12.2 IP), 13 Ks - Remember Kershaw's worst start of the year (2.2 IP, 3 ER, 81 pitches against San Diego)? He responded this week with two excellent starts. He gave up no runs over 5.2 IP against Oakland and struck out eight. Then he followed that up by going 7.0 scoreless innings striking out five against the Angels. The interesting thing is that Kershaw gave up 8 hits and 7 walks over the two starts. That's right, he allowed 15 runners on in 12.2 innings. And he didn't let one score. I think that really speaks to some maturity. He got in trouble, but he didn't lose control of the game. He stayed focused and got out of jams. A great example was in the 5th inning of yesterday's day against the Angels. Kershaw loaded the bases with nobody out. He then settled down, and induced a double play and a pop out to get out of the inning harmlessly. That's a lot of control for a 21 year old.
Alright, that's it for this week.
Hey! We're actually doing well in Interleague Play. The only series we've lost is against the Angels last month, so with the revenge we extracted this weekend, we've brought our Interleague record to 7-5. Not great, but not bad.
Just six more Interleague games. Three in Chicago during the week, then we come home for three against Seattle. I think we can definitely finish this year well over .500 in Interleague play. That'd be pretty good.
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?!?"
The two faces of James Loney this week.
Martin scoring on one of his hits this week ... because they don't take pictures of people not getting hits.
