Dodgers Retrospective - Week 18

You know, in a vacuum, going 4-3 in a week, splitting a four game series with the best team in your league and then winning two games out of three in a weekend series might seem like a good week.

It's not a bad week, for sure. But in the scenario we find ourselves in, another week has been ticked off the season, and the Dodgers have only moved one game closer to the division leading Padres, and 1.5 games closer to the wild card leading Giants. Couple this with the fact that the Dodgers will now play seven games on the road (three against Philadelphia and four against Atlanta) and well ... you kinda wish there wasn't so much space between the Dodgers and the playoff race leaders.

Sorry to be a downer.

Alright, couple more things.


Unfortunate Timing

I had the feeling these trade deadline deals would come back to bite us in the future. I just didn't know it would be the following week.

What I'm saying is:

Don't you just hate it when you trade away your most promising catching prospect (one who is nearly ready for the majors) for a very average outfielder and then your starting catcher gets hurt and goes on the DL with a season ending injury and you now have to platoon at catcher for the rest of the year with a 41 year old coming off back surgery and a 29 year old career backup catcher with almost no power?

I know I sure do.



The End of An (Awful, Awful) Era

You know, I have to be honest, when I woke up this morning, one of the last things I expected was to learn that Garret Anderson had been Designated for Assignment.

Don't get me wrong. It's good news. In fact, I had a permanent smile on my face for a good half hour after hearing about the move. I'm really not kidding. I was explaining it to people who don't care about baseball and smiling the whole time.

But, it was just odd timing.

I mean, what exactly was it that finally forced Joe Torre's hand? Anderson didn't even play in yesterday's game. And we won that game. You'd think Anderson would have gotten the boot after another 0-4 spot start, or a pinch-hit GIDP to end the game or something. Nope, the Dodgers win and Anderson watches from the bench, then gets Designated for Assignment the next day.

And the decision was made in mid-August, no less, months longer than should have taken. Anderson had hung on this long, I thought for sure he was going to reach the safety plateau of expanded rosters in September.

But, nope. Anderson is gone and whatever the reason, I'll take it. Everyone knew he was done. Fans most of all, but the coaches had to know, too. Garret Anderson probably knew. It was no doubt tough on him to struggle so badly this year.

So, this is farewell, then. So long, Garret. Sorry for ripping on you so much this year, but in fairness, you were terrible.

When saying goodbye, it's important to remember the good times we had. Or, in Anderson's case, that one good time.

Dodgers Retrospective - Week 4

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?

Injuries Everywhere!

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.

This Could Be A Problem

Russell Martin is going to be out for the next four to six weeks with a pulled groin. Now this poses a few issues.

The first is obvious. Who will replace Martin? Word from Joe Torre is that A.J. Ellis will get most of Martin's starts to begin the season, which is something I'm only 60% ok with. I like Ellis, and I like the fact that he's stuck in there for the last seven seasons since he's been drafted by the Dodgers, and I've even supported Ellis as backup catcher for the last two seasons or so, I'm just worried with the idea of "A.J. Ellis, starting catcher." Still, there aren't many other options, none especially better, so that issue kind of settles itself.

Here's the bigger issue, Martin has in a round-about way declared that he's going to push hard to try to come back quickly which is, really, just the worst thing he can do.

Martin has always been known as a hard nosed guy, who doesn't want to sit out a game, or who wants to play through injuries, etc. but in this instance, he would be putting himself at risk for no reason.

I mean, really, we're not just talking about a handful of games in April, but here are the teams we are playing:

3 @ Pittsburgh, 3 @ Florida, 3 vs Arizona, 3 vs SF, 3 @ Cincinnati, 3 @ Washington, 3 @ New York Mets, 4 vs Pittsburgh

That takes us to May 3rd. 8 weeks from now. Which is more than enough time to heal up and make sure you are 100% ready for the season.

Is there one series in those eight (in April, by the way) that is an absolute must win? There is absolutely no need for Martin to rush back.

Russell, you feel like you need to play, but you couldn't be further from the truth. Sit. Heal. Watch some scouting videos or something.

Or grow your totally awesome mustache back.

...and get paid to do it. We'll see you in six weeks.

Week Recap: 09/07/09 - 09/13/09

Hey, look at that. A good week! Not a great week, but winning both series, and winning 4 of 6 during the week is still pretty good.

And more importantly, another week ticks off the season, and the teams chasing us slowly start running out of time.

On the bad side, for the first time in over a month, Dodger pitching surrendered more than four runs (in the first 9 innings) in Sunday's 7-2 loss to the Giants. Congrats, though, to the pitching staff for keeping it going that long.

In any case, let's do Round 19 of HOT, COLD, or ROOM TEMPERATURE:

COLD:

• Chad Billingsley - 0-1 (2 starts), 6.30 ERA (7 ER in 10.0 IP), 16 H - Two starts for Billingsley this week. His first was... ok... I guess. Four earned runs in 6.0 IP (8 hits, 3 BBs). His second start was less so. Three earned runs in only 4.0 IP (another 8 hits). Frankly, Billingsley has become hittable. Again, 16 hits in 10 innings. Either way, Billingsley is going to skip his next start, and I'm totally for it. He should sit back, relax, and clear his head a little bit. Something is off with Billingsley, here's to hoping he can get back on track.

ROOM TEMPERATURE:

• Matt Kemp - .259 (7-27), 2 2Bs, 3 RBIs, 1 BB, 6 Ks, 2 SBs, 1 GiDP - A better week for Kemp. He actually collected a hit in every game this week. Unfortunately, it ended up being pretty much only one per game (1-5, 1-5, 1-4, 2-4, 1-5, 1-4). Still, nice to see some improvement this week over last week.

HOT:

• Manny Ramírez - .400 (6-15), 1 3B, 2 HRs, 4 RBIs, 4 BBs, 4 Ks - I don't think I've awarded Manny a "HOT" since April, but he deserved it this week. Couple of homeruns, and a triple! Come on, you know how much those dreads weigh? It's hard to run with those.

• Russell Martin - .286 (6-21), 1 2B, 2 HRs, 9 RBIs, 3 BBs - Yeah, not too many hits, but hits when they counted. And RBIs. Oh, so many RBIs. Good week for Martin, who like Manny, hasn't had too many.

• Vicente Padilla - 2-0 (2 starts), 1.50 ERA (2 ER in 12.0 IP), 8 Ks - Who would of thought Padilla would be such a good pickup? I mean seriously. He's made four starts for us, and each has been pretty good. Vicente Padilla? Good? ...what in the world?

• Hiroki Kuroda - 1-0 (1 start), 2.25 ERA (2 ER in 8.0 IP), 5 Ks - It's really nice when Kuroda whips out one of these fantastic performances. It's doubly nice when he does it in just his second start back from a horrific head injury.

• James Loney - .381 (8-21), 1 2B, 3 HRs, 8 RBIs, 4 BBs, 1.319 OPS - Seriously, what's going on this week? Manny, Martin, now Loney? All these guys who have been quietly floating through this season have suddenly showed up this week. I guess it doesn't matter why it's happening, just that it is. If everyone starts to contribute on this team, and the offense starts going at all gears, we might finally return to being that scary team we were at the beginning of the year.

Alright folks, Pirates come into town for a three game set. Then we get the Giants again, for the last time this season. Another good week would do real well for our playoff hopes.

Meanwhile, I'm going to the game tonight, and I got to get going. Free Dodger Dogs await me.

This Offense Is Tearing Me Apart!

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...

Week Recap: 08/31/09 - 09/06/09

Hey, remember last week when I said: "...we still need to beat up on the teams we should be beating up on, starting tonight against Arizona."

NO ONE IS LISTENING TO ME!!!

The Dodgers went 3-4 this week against the fourth and fifth place teams in our division. That's just ugly.

Let's just do Round 18 of COLD, HOT, or ROOM TEMPERATURE:

COLD:

• Russell Martin - .217 (5-23), 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 BBs, 3 Ks - Interesting week for Martin, who found himself leading off at the beginning of it. He was quickly moved back into the bottom third of the lineup. Nothing seemed to matter. Another bad week in what is a pretty bad year.

• Orlando Hudson - .214 (3-14), 1 2B, 1 BB, 3 Ks - Hudson only made it into four games this week. Why? Ronnie Belliard started taking starts away from him. Maybe for good reason. Hudson is struggling at the plate, and if he doesn't start turning it around, he might find himself losing more starts.

• Matt Kemp - .160 (4-25), 2 HR, 3 RBIs, 1 BB, 4 Ks - Tough week for Kemp, who still came through with a couple homeruns, but not much else. Though not for lack of trying. Only four strikeouts in the week. He's just not hitting them where they ain't.

ROOM TEMPERATURE:

• Clayton Kershaw - 0-1 (1 start), 1.50 ERA (1 ER, 2 R, 6.0 IP) - Statistically, it was not a bad week for Kershaw. But, oh, what's this? "Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw will miss his next start after bruising his right shoulder when he ran into the outfield wall during batting practice." Now this is an important thing to note, and I can't stress this enough, especially for young pitchers: DO NOT RUN INTO WALLS! Again, I cannot stress this enough. You may think running into a wall might have some added benefit, or hey, maybe it even looks fun. I can assure you, it's not. So please, for the sake of the children, do not run into walls.

HOT:

• Ronnie Belliard - .304 (7-23), 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBIs, 1 BB, 6 Ks - Yeah, I could probably do with less strikeouts, but Belliard was actually one of the few guys in the lineup who was coming up with some big hits this week, including smacking a homerun in his very first at-bat in Dodger blue.

• Jonathan Broxton - 0-0, 3 SVs (4 games), 0.00 ERA (4 IP), 7 Ks - Good week for Broxton. He gave up just a few hits here and there, but mostly, he's been effective. Keeping the pitch count low, getting some strikeouts, and probably, most importantly, not walking anyone this week.

• Randy Wolf - 1-0 (2 starts), 2.77 ERA (4 ER in 13.0 IP), 12 Ks - Wolf continues to be one of the more solid, reliable starters in our rotation. Not much more to say about Wolf that hasn't already been said. Just, keep up the good work, I guess.

• Jon Garland - 1-0 (1 start), 2.57 ERA (2 ER in 7.0 IP), 6 Ks - A nice homecoming for the kid from Valencia. He started out kind of slow, but settled in and really delivered an excellent start. Plus, he made himself a strong contender for the number four spot in the playoffs.

Another series with Arizona? I'm so tired of them. Then this weekend, we'll take on San Francisco in a pretty big series. This would be a good time for our hitting to start kicking it into gear.

Week Recap: 08/10/09 - 08/16/09

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.

J's Dodger Tweets - July Edition

So, if you haven't been reading my Dodger Tweets, I thought I'd forcibly make you read them. I mean, I guess not forcibly, you could just ignore this article. It's your choice.

But please don't.

Anyway, I've gone through and cherry-picked what I think are some good Tweets from July. Have at them:

• Anytime Eric Collins feels like saying something like "If you're 3 degrees from Mike Burns, is it 3rd degree burns?" he should just shut up.


• Is it just me or are Todd Coffey and Seth McClung the same person?



• Anytime Eric Collins feels like comparing [Corey] Hart to 1980s singer Corey Hart and referencing "Sunglasses at Night" he should just shut up.


• I'm pretty sure if someone threw up and in and tried to hit [Nelson] Cruz, his chin hair would protect him.


• To me, [Ryan] Franklin's facial hair is the worst choice in facial hair in the last decade.



• ...and that does include Bobby Jenks goatee.



• Sneaky & lame Fringe promotion. If the bald guy from Fringe is there, it better be because giant worms are going to burst out of Brad Hawpe.



• If I were to tell you that about 100 games into the season, [Russell] Martin would have less than 30 RBIs, would your response be: "Is he on the DL?" (Currently 31 RBIs, 104 games into the season)
  


• Unintentional joke of the day - Steve Lyons on where to put his new book: "In the toilet." Ouch.


• Do you think if another player bumped into Renyel Pinto too hard from behind, he'd explode?


• Over/Under: Juan Pierre finishing the season batting .300.


• I thought Cardinals fans WERE THE GREATEST FANS IN THE ENTIRE WORLD! Then why the booing and sarcastic signs?
• Random ESPN Panelist: Cardinals fans are the most knowledgeable in baseball. They're the best! Cue: Cardinals fans holding WoMannyWood sign.


• Sorry, I know we're getting blown out, but I can't help but love when a position player pitches. Did you see the screwball [Mark] Loretta threw?


• I am very afraid Dennys Reyes is about to pop.



• I never realized how many r's George Sherrill had in his name until we traded for him.


• Shocker: Bill Plaschke is angry because of today's announcement of [David] Ortiz and [Manny] Ramirez's past steroid use.
• Connect the name of any player that debuted pre-steroid breakdown a few years ago with steroids. Would any result really be shocking?


• With the way the Pirates are selling these days, I wonder if someday we could get Andy LaRoche and Delwyn Young back.


• You know, I'm kinda hoping the Dodgers do trade for Roy Halladay, just so I can count how many sports writers make a "Doc Hollywood" pun.

Thank you and goodnight.

First Half Recap - Hitters

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.

Week Recap: 06/29/09 - 07/05/09

Hey people, welcome back. Let's talk about the week.

Compared to last week, this one was a considerably better.

The Dodgers started the week by splitting the first two games against Colorado, before shutting them out in the third game to take the series.

They followed this with the return of the Dreadlocked one on Friday, a game in which they beat the Padres. The bullpen blew a lead Saturday to allow the Padres to even up the series. Sunday could have ended worse than Saturday, with the bullpen blowing an even bigger lead, but the Dodgers pulled it out in extra innings to secure the game and the series.

They went 4-2 on the week.

Ok, that's settled, let's get to the meat. Round 12 of HOT, COLD, or ROOM TEMPERATURE:

COLD:

• Orlando Hudson - .000 (0-16), 6 Ks - Now, admittedly, Hudson's had a pretty weak month as it is, but this week was of Russell Martin-esque proportions. Hudson isn't making solid contact, if he's even making contact at all. Interestingly enough, he was named to the All-Star team just in time for Joe Torre to bench him for several games. If I could offer some advice to Hudson, look for that silver lining.

ROOM TEMPERATURE:

• Russell Martin - .263 (5-19), 2 BBs, 2 RBIs, 5 Ks - Week 2 of the Martin Leg Lift Watch. He was actually benched earlier in the week, a la Hudson, in an attempt to, I don't know, wake his bat up? It almost worked. He went 4-8 in his first two games back, before going 0-6 in Sunday's game. Yew.

• Rafael Furcal - .364 (9-26), 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SB, 4 R - How do I label a guy who batted .364 "ROOM TEMPERATURE"? Watch me. Well, honestly, I do this because Furcal has had two weeks in one. The first three games of the week? Furcal went 1-10. The last three games of the week Furcal hit .500 (8-16). Which Furcal will show up next week? Who the hell knows?

• Jonathan Broxton - 0-0, 2-3 save opportunities (4 games), 6.75 ERA (3 ER in 4.0 IP), 8 Ks - Guess who else had an up-and-down week? No, not Brad Ausmus. Broxton started the week going three scoreless innings, striking out seven out of nine batters, collecting two saves. Then Sunday? Broxton. What was that? One inning pitched, three walks, two hits, three earned runs, and one very blown save. It's weird, it's like he and Hudson both had negative reactions to being named to the All-Star team.

HOT:

• Chad Billingsley - 0-1 (2 starts), 3.45 ERA (6 ER in 15.2 IP), 16 Ks / .333 (2-6), 1 2B, 1 HR - You know who didn't have a negative reaction to being named to the All-Star team? Stop guessing Brad Ausmus, he's not in this week's article. Billingsley had two nice, quality starts this week, but really became a victim of his circumstance. He went 7.2 innings against Colorado in his first start of the week, allowing only three runs over that span. Unfortunately for Chad, his counterpart Jason Marquis was dominating the Dodgers that game, and Chad ended up taking the loss. Then, in Billingsley's second start, he held the Padres to one run for eight innings, before allowing a homerun to start the 9th. He followed that up by allowing a double before getting pulled. Who was he pulled for? Ausmus? No. Broxton, who proceeded to allow not only Billingsley's runner to score, but three more runners after that, to effectively cancel out almost everything Billingsley did that game. Everything, that is, except for Billingsley's first career homerun, which gave the Dodgers an extra run that was, ultimately, pretty important.

• Brent Leach - 0-0 (5 games), 0.00 ERA (0 ER in 2.1 IP), 1 HLD, 1 K - Talk about being a workhorse. Oh, you weren't talking about being a workhorse? Well, start talking about it so I can interject with this point: Brent Leach appeared in five of the Dodgers' six games this week. And he did well. And he's been doing well. And I'd like to acknowledge that. After struggling when first being called up, Leach has settled into his role, and since the beginning of June, has posted a 1.80 ERA. He's the left handed reliever we were actually looking for.

• Jeff Weaver - 1-0 (2 games), 0.00 ERA (0 ER in 4.0 IP), 5 Ks - A nice week for Weaver. He had a Rocky inning against Colorado (see what I did there? Yeah, I'm ashamed of it, too) but battled out a jam by striking out the side. He then went three scoreless innings on Sunday to hold the Padres at bay while the Dodgers took a 13th inning lead. This was especially important, because it would have been a bad game to lose. It was the difference between winning or losing a series to the lowly Padres. The difference between finishing the week over .500, or just at .500. It was big, and Weaver came up big for us.

• James Loney - .304 (7-23), 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBIs, 3 BB, 1 SB - You know who else came up big for us Sunday? Aus... never mind. Loney did. A big 13th inning homerun to put the Dodgers up for good. Loney also collected a hit in every game this week, so there's also that.

• Randy Wolf - 0-0 (2 starts), 2.25 ERA (3 ER in 12.0 IP), 12 Ks - Wolf bounced back from an ugly week to put up two quality starts this week. Not much else to say other than good work.

• Juan Pierre - .381 (8-21), 1 BB, 1 RBI, 5-7 SBs - This is not just for Juan Pierre's week. It's for the last 50 games. Listen, Juan, I really appreciate you filling in admirably during the suspension. I'll ignore the fact that after your nice May, you batted .264 during June (.319 OBP). You were put in a bad position. This is the second year you thought you'd be a starter and the Dodgers have brought someone in to replace you. And for the most part, you've handled it in a classy way. Yeah, there was some trade demanding and a little complaining, but you never stopped showing up to play. And yes, your reward is a trip back to the bench with the occasional start. It's tough, I can imagine. So this is just to say: Thanks. Thanks for doing what you do. And who knows, maybe we'll find you a nice home somewhere else, where you can start and be free to run where you please. But for now, please quietly return to the bench and readjust to your role. I know you will, that's what you do.

Ok then folks. That's it. One last road trip this week before the All-Star break. Here's to finishing the first half strong.

Week Recap: 06/22/09 - 06/28/09

Wow. That was pretty bad.

Seriously, can we all agree this has been the worst week for the Dodgers this entire season?

They started the week pretty good, taking the first game from the White Sox. They then went on to lose the next two games. And with that, they lost their first series in a month.

But they bounced back, by beating the Mariners in their first game on Friday. They then, again, went on to lose their next two games.

And with that, they've lost two series in a row, the first time that has happened this season.

The Dodgers went 2-4 on the week.

Let's do Round 11 of HOT, COLD, or ROOM TEMPERATURE:

COLD:

• Randy Wolf - 0-1 (1 start), 13.50 ERA (5 ER in 3.1 IP), 3 HR - Wolf's start this week was not so much a start as batting practice. He got lit up. Homeruns left and right. Not pretty for a guy who's become our 2nd starter.

• Cory Wade - 0-0 (1 game), 36.00 ERA (4 ER in 1.0 IP), 2 HR - Continuing to build on Wolf's start, Wade came into the game to give even more homeruns. And if getting lit up in a Wolf-like way wasn't bad enough, Wade got demoted to AAA later in the week. I don't know what it is, but there is definitely something missing in Wade's game, and unless he can get it back, there are going to be issues in Wade's immediate future.

• Ronald Belisario - No stats for Belisario this week, just a finger wag. Belisario got picked up early Saturday morning on suspicion of DUI. That is definitely a no-no. Joe Torre has apparently given Belisario a good talking to which I'm glad happened. Drinking and driving is probably one of the stupidest things you can do, and Belisario needs to know that something like this happening again won't be tolerated, regardless of how good he's been this year. I'd hope for some sort of apology from Belisario, but I'll be ok with just a quiet promise to never do anything like this again.

ROOM TEMPERATURE:

• Eric Milton - 0-1 (1 start), 7.20 ERA (4 ER in 5.0 IP), 7 Ks - What are you supposed to make of Milton's start? I was at the game, and frankly, Milton just looked hitable. He'd get two strikes, then leave one over the plate to be whacked. But as bad as that is, Milton settled down and retired the last 8 batters he faced in order. I just can't quite figure out how a guy who got racked in his first trip and a half through the lineup, pitched so well his 2nd and 3rd time through. Just odd.

• Andre Ethier - .167 (3-18), 3 HR, 7 RBIs, 4 BBs, 5 Ks - Yeah, given the lack of hits Ethier has had this week, he should be "COLD" but how can I bring myself to label a man "COLD" who had a 3-homerun game this week? Answer: I can't.

• Russell Martin - .238 (5-21) 1 2B, 3 BBs, 4 Ks - How's the first week been for the post-leg lift Martin? Eh. Better than some of his recent 1-hit weeks, but still not as good as you'd like to see out of your All-Star catcher.

• Hiroki Kuroda - 1-1 (2 games), 3.60 ERA (6 ER in 15.0 IP), 14 Ks, 0 BBs - Kuroda is in the same boat as Milton. What do you make of his starts this week? Here's a look at the lines: at CHW - 8.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 hits 9 Ks / vs SEA - 6.2 IP, 4 ER, 8 hits, 5 Ks. That same Chicago offense that ripped up Wolf and Wade was rocked to sleep by Kuroda. His game was even better than his line shows, with one of those runs being some-what of a gimme-run late in the 9th. The Seattle game was ok, but Kuroda had more than a couple innings of shakiness in it with an offense less potent than the White Sox. Again, just odd.

HOT:

• Clayton Kershaw - 1-0 (1 start), 3.00 ERA (2 ER in 6.0 IP), 8 Ks - Kershaw turned in his third straight quality performance, and he's doing it at just the right time. Who'd have thought that at this point, the rest of the starters on the pitching staff would be question marks, and the 21 year old half-rookie would be the most solid starter? As long as he keeps it up, I'm ok.

There we go. Like I said, not a great week for the Dodgers. In fact, a horrible week, with the only real bright side being Kuroda's first start, and Kershaw's start halting our small two-game losing streak. However, that's been followed up with another two-game losing streak.

And now Jim Tracy's red-hot Rockies are coming into town, looking to make up some ground in the NL West race.

If things weren't interesting enough, guess who's coming back at the end of this week just as our offense is dying.

Yeah, things are REALLY going to get interesting.

Week Recap: 06/15/09 - 06/21/09

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.

Week Recap: 06/08/09 - 06/14/09

Ok, folks. I'm back.

I won't lie to you, I've been a little distracted.

First and foremost, the Dodgers are my #1 love. I'm a baseball fan and a Dodgers fan. They are my team.

However, the Lakers are a pretty close second. And in case you weren't paying attention at all recently, the Lakers won their 15th NBA Championship yesterday. And I've been pretty invested in their journey.

Hence my distraction.

But now that's all over. The Lakers played, the Lakers won, the playoffs are over. The Lakers are World Champions. Hoo-rah.

...and now I can focus on baseball again. Not to say I haven't been paying attention this last week. In fact, I'm ready for another week recap. So let's talk about this.

Dodgers started the week with a two game series against the Padres that went, well, less than ideal. A split with the Padres? Come on...

We did follow that up, though, by beating the AL West First Place Texas Rangers, two out of three games in Texas. Nice.

Dodgers went 3-2 on the week.

HOT, COLD, or ROOM TEMPERATURE. Round 9. Start!

COLD:

• Russell Martin - .167 (3-18), 3 BBs, 2 Ks - Russell! Russell! What is going on?! Russell was already struggling coming into the month of June. How's he doing in June? He has four hits. That's it. Four hits in the whole month of June. That's good for a .111 average. I have to believe something is wrong with him health-wise. I have no other explanation for what he's doing (or not doing) this year.

• Mark Loretta - .125 (1-8), 1 BB, 1 run - After starting the year doing so well off the bench for us, Loretta has really seen his numbers drop. In fact, remember how bad Martin has been in June? Loretta has been worse. He's 1-22 in June (.045).

• Clayton Kershaw - 0-1 (1 start), 10.13 ERA (3 ER in 2.2 IP), 4 BBs, 5 hits, 81 pitches - If I could use one word to describe Kershaw's start this week, I think I'd use ineffective. He couldn't find the strikezone, and when he did, he gave up hits. He threw 81 pitches and couldn't make it out of the 3rd inning! I mean, wow, Kershaw. Where was almost no-hitter Kershaw from the Marlins start from three weeks ago?

ROOM TEMPERATURE:

• Juan Pierre - .200 (4-20), 2 BBs, 3 SBs, 4 runs - My second week in a row of just one Room Temperature guy, and this week, Pierre fits the bill. Now, granted, Juan is still fourth in average for the National League (.343, good!), but he's actually been fairly pedestrian in June (.260, meh!) and this week has been his worst in a long time.

HOT:

• Chad Billingsley - 2-0 (2 starts), 3.55 ERA (5 ER in 12.2 IP), 8 Ks - Sure, this hasn't been Billingsley's greatest week, but his two wins this week placed him first, atop the National League in wins (tied with Matt Cain). Very nice.

• Casey Blake - .368 (7-19), 3 2Bs, 1 HR, 4 RBIs, 3 runs - I think, instead of posting nice stuff about Blake when he does well, I'll just make a the Most Interesting Man in the World quip. When he swings his bat, he generates a lot of power with his legs, and even more with his beard. I hope Blake keeps it up so I can do this again.

• Ramon Troncoso - 0-0 (4 games), 3 Holds, 0.00 ERA (0 ER in 4.1 IP) - I don't know how he does it. He's given up almost as many hits as innings pitched (37 in 41.2 IP), and his strikeout-to-walk ratio is only 2:1, but he's still posting a 1.51 ERA on the season, and he hasn't given up a run since May 24th, and only two since May 8th. That's fantastic.

• Jonathan Broxton - 0-0 (3 games) 3 saves, 3.00 ERA (1 ER in 3.0 IP), 6 Ks, 1 baby - Broxton gave up one run this week, but it was a gimme-run. He had a three run lead and wasn't holding runners, so I'm not really counting it. With the three saves this week, he brought his total up to 16 on the season, tied for third in the National League. Also, he had a baby this week, so congrats on that. I haven't heard much about the baby, but just basing it on the fact that Broxton is his father, I'm guessing the baby was born weighing 40 pounds and throwing a 85 MPH heater.

• Rafael Furcal - .313 (5-16), 2 2Bs, 2 RBIs, 3 BBs, 3 Ks, 1 SB, 1 run - Ok, so this wasn't the greatest week ever. And it probably wasn't even the best week on the team. But for Rafael Furcal, it was a sign of life, and that's good enough for me. Furcal was bumped down to the 7th spot in the lineup earlier this week, and responded by stringing together a nice little hitting streak (it's up to 8 games). He's not striking out as much, he's drawing a few more walks, he's got a couple extra base hits, and he's even driven in a few runs. I got to give him props. I just hope that this is the beginning of getting better for Furcal, and not just a blip of "HOT" on an otherwise "COLD" season.

Ok, so we got more interleague, nice. I still enjoy this stuff. Some people say it has run it's course but I (and attendance at the games) disagree. And as much as I despise the DH, it's still fun to get to use one every now and then.

A's and Angels this week. See you then.