Player: Scott Proctor
2008 Stats: 2-0, 6.05 ERA (41 games)
2008 Analysis: Proctor was not too good. Though he did have a surprisingly good ratio of strikeouts to innings pitched (46 Ks to 38.2 innings) for someone who kept getting lit up.
Still, he had four instances where he gave up four runs. That ain't good.
2009 Outlook: Proctor signed with the Florida Marlins earlier in the offseason. I never understood why he never clicked with us. He had a solid fastball and a pretty good curveball. It's a nice one-two punch for a reliever. Anyway, we'll see how he does in Florida, but I would guess, probably not great.
So, I've been a little busy the last week, and as such, wasn't able to write about a couple of things that happened.
First, happy trails to Scott Proctor, who signed a one-year deal with the Florida Marlins. At least now he gets to avoid Joe Torre for a little while.
Second, happy trails to both Ángel Berroa and Jason Johnson. Though I don't believe anything has been made official yet, both are heading to the New York Yankees. Um... they will be missed? I don't have much else.
Finally, the Dodgers added a pitcher, by signing Claudio Vargas. He's ok... He recorded double digit wins in 2006 and 2007, but has never had a sub-4.00 ERA. I'm not thrilled about the acquisition, but I guess it couldn't hurt to have an extra pitcher around.
The chose to cut loose five players at the non-tender deadline, not offering contracts to shortstop Ángel Berroa and pitchers Takashi Saito, Scott Proctor, Yhency Brazoban, and Mario Alvarez.
This doesn't mean the end of these players in Dodger Blue, as they now become free agents and can still be resigned. They can, however, also be signed by other teams.
The Dodgers explode for 12 runs to take the second game in the three game series.
Clayton Kershaw got the win, he's 5-5. Mike Ekstrom took the loss, he's 0-1.
Clayton Kershaw got into a little trouble and wasn't able to get too deep into the game. He went only 5.2 innings giving up three runs on six hits and two walks, though he did strike out seven over that span. Chan Ho Park came in to relieve and got out of the 6th inning, though he ended up giving a run in the following inning. Cory Wade added a scoreless inning in relief and Scott Proctor struck out the side in the 9th to close the door on the Padres.
Offensively, another big game for the Dodgers. Overall, they collected 12 runs on 17 hits, seven walks, and a hit-batter. 11 different players had hits in the game. Several players had excellent games at the plate. Matt Kemp went 3-6 with two RBIs. Russell Martin went 2-3 with a walk and two runs scored. 
Manny Ramírez went 2-4 with a walk, a homerun, two RBIs, and two runs scored. Andre Ethier went 2-4 with a walk, an RBI, and two runs scored. And finally, Nomar Garciaparra went 2-3 with a double, a homerun, two RBIs, and two runs scored.
The Arizona Diamondbacks lost today, so with the win, the Dodgers move up to four games up on them in the NL West race. The Dodgers will go for the sweep (and possibly a chance to clinch the NL West) tomorrow at 7:10 L.A. time.
Also: With the win, the Dodgers move to eight games over .500 (83-75)... With the win and the Diamondbacks' loss, the Dodger Magic Number is now down to 1... James Loney came into the game as a defensive replacement and went 1-2 with a double, two RBIs, and a run scored. Those two RBIs bring his team leading total to 89.
Opinion: Dodgers started out slow. They were scoreless for the first three innings, then exploded for 12 runs over the next six. And everyone was contributing, and that's really good to see. Now we have to look forward to tomorrow. The Cardinals did their part to help set us up for the NL West clincher tomorrow night by beating the Diamondbacks tonight. Thank you, St. Louis. Of course, they could help us even more by beating the Diamondbacks in tomorrow's afternoon game and allowing us to clinch before our game even starts. Then again, they probably did enough to get us within one. Our destiny is really in our own hands now. We could sweep the Padres tomorrow and clinch the NL West at home. That would be a great way to end our last home game of the year. Either way, it looks like we are probably going to the playoffs, and that makes me happy...
The Dodgers win a game in extra innings to take the series from Pittsburgh.
Scott Proctor got the win, he's 2-0. Craig Hansen took the loss, he's 1-4. Jonathan Broxton picked up his 14th save.
Clayton Kershaw's start was short. He went five innings, giving up one run on two hits and two walks while striking out five. 
Unfortunately, it took him 86 pitches to do that, and only 44 of those pitches were strikes (about 56%). The bullpen managed to give up the lead twice in the following two innings, before shutting down the Pirates over the last five. This included 1.2 scoreless innings thrown by Chan Ho Park and a perfect 11th thrown by Scott Proctor. Jonathan Broxton was a little shaky, but ultimately shut down the Pirates in the 12th to close out the game.
The Dodger offense was a bit odd today. They scored four runs on six hits and 11 walks. No one Dodger had a particularly good game. 
The best two really only collected one hit each. Blake DeWitt went 1-4 with two walks and two RBIs. James Loney had the big RBI in the game. He only went 1-6, but the hit came with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the 12th to give the Dodgers the lead.
The Arizona Diamondbacks also won today, so the Dodgers remain 3.5 games in front in the NL West race. The Dodgers now come home to start a three game weekend series against the Giants. The first game starts tomorrow at 7:40 L.A. time.
Also: With the win (the Dodgers' 80th on the season), the Dodgers move back up to seven games over .500 (80-73)... With the win, the Dodger Magic Number is down to 7... James Loney's RBI was his team leading 87th.
Opinion: These last two games weren't so good. The Diamondbacks are heating up. They completed their four game sweep of the Giants (smashing my prediction from two days ago) and now are moving on to Colorado, who might or might not be a little harder. 
In any case, I'm glad we won today. A series split with the Pirates would have been disasterous at this point in the season. The offense seemed a litle dead today. We still got the win, but we seemed to be lacking the passion we've had the past couple weeks. We'd better get that back soon... Looks like Nomar Garciaparra's knee injury is not as bad as I had thought. He could be back in the lineup soon, but that doesn't mean I'm not worried. I just hope it can hold up. We'll see... 
One last note: Manny Ramírez and Andy LaRoche had the same number of RBIs in this series. I'm not saying that Andy would have made more of an impact in the last month and a half. Manny has been a tremendous influence on the team and we wouldn't be anywhere close to where we are now without him. All I'm doing is just merely pointing out an interesting statistic. Just something to chew on...
The Pirates beat down on Dodger pitching to take the third game in the series.
John Grabow got the win, he's 6-3. Scott Elbert took the loss, he's 0-1.
Dodger pitching was not good... Chad Billingsley had his worst start of the season. He went only 4.2 innings, giving up seven runs (six earned) on two walks and eight hits (two homeruns, including a grand slam). Joe Beimel came in and got out of the inning by striking out the next batter. Scott Proctor looked good, pitching the next 1.2, striking out three. A combination of three different pitchers (including Scott Elbert, who took the loss) then proceeded to give up eight runs before finally recording one out. James McDonald made his major league debut, and was impressive. He pitched a perfect 8th, striking out two.
What will be lost in what was an awful pitching performance, was that the Dodgers weren't bad offensively today. They collected eight runs on 19 hits and three walks. Russell Martin went 3-5 with a double and three RBIs. Matt Kemp went 4-5 with a run scored. Pablo Ozuna went 3-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Finally, Nomar Garciaparra went 2-3 with a double, an RBI, and a run scored before hurting his knee in the 5th inning and being forced to come out of the game.
The Diamondbacks are currently beating the Giants 7-3 after six innings. With the loss, the Dodgers' lead is currently three games. They'll try to go for the series win tomorrow, starting at 9:35 L.A. time.
Also: With the loss, the Dodgers fall back to six games over .500 (79-73).
Opinion: So... that was interesting... You know what the most amazing thing about this game was? The Pirates scored 14 (THAT'S RIGHT, 14!) of the 15 runs with two outs. Can we get a third out, please?!? I guess you can't expect those kind of numbers every night, but really, nobody could get a popout or something? Come on... The hitting, though the Dodgers did manage eight runs, still surprises me. Normally when you see 19 in the "Hit" column, you see more then eight in the "Run" column. Not that it matters, because, normally, when you 15 in the opponents' "Run" column, you just take the loss and move on... As a manager in professional baseball, you really ride a roller coaster of looking like a total genius to a clueless moron. Joe Torre chose to start Pablo Ozuna and Nomar Garciaparra, and they rewarded him (3-4 and 2-3 respectively). Then, Torre chose to put in Scott Proctor. He was dominating in his 1.2 innings. Then, with a lefty coming up, Torre chose to take out the hot Proctor and bring in lefty Scott Elbert to get the third out. At this point, the score was tied, 7-7. Eight runs and 10 batters later, that out was finally recorded... 
Look, I'll say this, I really like Nomar Garciaparra. I still remember his excellent year in 2006 when he was incredibly clutch for us. I really want him to be a part of this playoff team. That said, he looked really bad trying to stop after rounding 3rd base in the 5th inning. There have been no reports yet, but if I had to put money on it, I'd put a small amount on Nomar Garciaparra going on the DL. Nomar is going to be a free agent after this season. ...Nomar, I love you man, but if this knee injury is as serious as it probably is, it might be time to call it a day. I guess we'll see when the report on his leg comes out, but again, I guessing it's not pretty... Ok, that's enough for now, but really, what a weird day. Let it go and move on, it'll make you crazy if you think about it too much.
EDIT: The Giants tried but couldn't complete a comeback against the Diamondbacks, so with their win, the pull back within 3.5 games of the Dodgers in the NL West. I guess what I said yesterday about predictions might be right. But then again, my prediction about me making a prediction seems to be turning out right... so... 1-2???
The Dodgers beat the Rockies to take the first game in the weekend series and win their third game overall.
Chad Billingsley got the win, he's 15-10. Jeff Francis took the loss, he's 4-10.
Chad Billingsley went six innings giving up two runs on three walks and six hits, while striking out three. Pitch count was an issue, as by the time Billingsley was taken out of the game before the 7th inning, he had made 96 pitches. He did do a good job, though, of holding the Rockies to two runs. He gave up a run in each of the first two innings, but held the Rockies scoreless over the next four. Four pitchers from the Dodger bullpen pitched a combined three scoreless innings, giving up only one hit over that span. Cory Wade was among that group. He went 1.1 innings, striking out a batter. Scott Proctor pitched a perfect 9th, striking out one to close out the game.
The Dodger offense heated up in the last third of the game. They had scored only three runs through the first six innings. They then managed to score four runs in the last three. Seven different Dodgers reached base at least twice. Manny Ramírez went 2-5 with an RBI and a run scored. 
Nomar Garciaparra went 1-2 with a walk, a double, and two runs scored. Matt Kemp went 2-5 with a double, two RBIs, and a run scored. James Loney had a short and sweet game. He came in as a defensive replacement in the 7th innings. He then proceeded to go 2-2 with a double and three RBIs.
The Arizona Diamondbacks won as well today, so with the win, the Dodgers will hold on to the 3.5 game lead. The Dodgers will try to extend their win streak to four tomorrow, starting at 5:05 L.A. time.
Also: With the win, the Dodgers move to five games over .500 (76-71)... Also with the win, the Dodger Magic Number is lowered to 13... Chad Billingsley's win was his 15th, good for first place on the Dodgers... James Loney's three RBIs today brought his team leading total to 83.
Opinion: Good win for the Dodgers, especially from a pitching standpoint. When Chad Billingsley gave up two runs in the first two innings, I started thinking "Uh-oh." For some reason, however good our pitching is, the Rockies somehow seem to be good at hitting us, especially notorious Dodger killers: Matt Holliday and Brad Hawpe. Hawpe and Holliday both went 2-4, by the way. But we were able to shut the rest of the team down. The pitching held them to seven hits and three walks, and of course, most importantly: two runs. Props most of all to the bullpen. Three innings, one hit and no runs against a pretty good hitting team. Also, I have to give props to the hitting. After coming out kind of slow, only two runs through the first three innings, then getting a third go-ahead run in the 4th. More importantly, though, instead of letting the Rockies stay in the game and attempt some kind of late-inning comeback, they put the final nail in the coffin by scoring four runs in the final three innings. Anyway, good job on both end of the Dodgers today. Let's keep it up into tomorrow. Magic Number is 13 and shrinking...
A game that started as a pitching duel ending with an offensive explosion from the Indians in the 11th inning as they deal the Dodgers their second loss in the series in extra innings.
Masa Kobayashi got the win, he's 4-3. Cory Wade took the loss, he's 0-1.
Chan Ho Park, in somewhat of a spot start, pitched excellent. He went five innings, striking out nine and giving up one run. The one run, however, came on a solo homerun given up to C.C. Sabathia in his first at bat of the year. He demolished a fastball in the 3rd inning that went sailing into the Indians bullpen to make the score 1-0. The Indians would not score again until they plated six runs in 11th inning of Cory Wade, Scott Proctor, and Ramon Troncoso.
The Dodgers offense was held in check again by a strong left handed pitcher. C.C. Sabathia struck out 10 over seven innings giving up only one run as well. His only mistake came in the 6th inning when he gave up a solo homerun to Matt Kemp to tie the score at 1-1. The Dodgers would not score again until the bottom of the 11th inning when the score was already 7-1. Russell Martin collected three hits and scored a run. James Loney had two hits, including the RBI double in the 11th inning.
The last two games were oddly similar. Both games had the Dodgers shut down by a good left handed pitcher. Both games had the Dodgers fall behind early only to tie it up and lose the game in extra innings. And both games were very winable. It was very interesting to me that had Chan Ho Park not left a hanging pitch to the pitcher Sabathia in the third inning, the Dodgers could have very well shutout the Indians and won the game 1-0. That's an unfortunate loss. The Dodgers will try to get one win out of this series when they take on Paul Byrd at 1:10 L.A. time on Sunday.
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.
So the Dodgers pull out a win in the first game of a three game series in San Diego.
Scott Proctor picked up the win, his record goes to 1-0. Justin Hampson takes the loss, he's now 0-1.
Clayton Kershaw had another good start but his first major league win continues to allude him. He went 5 and 1/3 innings and struck out five, but walked four batters. 
Kershaw seems to have the same issue that Chad Billingsley had when he first came up: getting his pitch counts too high and too quickly and sketchy control issues. Billingsley however, has worked on these issues. He's getting deeper into games and serving up less walks. If Kershaw can make similar adjustments, he and Billingsley will be a powerful 1-2 punch at the top of the pitching rotation for years to come.
The offense, meanwhile, struggled against Greg Maddux before busting out against the Padre bullpen. They were able to cash in on a few situations with runners on and in scoring position which is a positive sign considering their failure to do so in recent games over the last few weeks. This team is not going to be a home-run team, they will need to play small ball efficiently and cash in with a big inning to get the win (ie. the four run 7th inning that gave the Dodgers the lead).
In some bad news, Rafael Furcal's back doesn't look like it's going to heal as soon as originally thought.
From Dodgers.com:
A disappointed Rafael Furcal had his return date pushed back again by doctors and is expected to be out another three weeks with lingering lower back pain.
That's bad news for an offense that's been having its struggles. Meanwhile, Nomar Garciaparra's calf is healing, and it looks at though he's going to begin a minor league assignment soon playing at shortstop. Does he still have the range and speed to play at that position? I guess we'll find out soon enough. If he can though (and can stay healthy), he can be an excellent utility infielder.
Chad Billingsley takes on former Dodger Randy Wolf tomorrow at 7:05 L.A. time.
Oh, and the Lakers won tonight against the Boston Celtics making the series 2-1 in the Celtics favor. They gotta take the next to at home to any chance at the series.
2008 Analysis: Proctor was not too good. Though he did have a surprisingly good ratio of strikeouts to innings pitched (46 Ks to 38.2 innings) for someone who kept getting lit up.
