Let's talk about a couple things.
First of all, in not very good news, Hong-Chih Kuo has arm issues. That's putting it lightly. That same arm that's had four, count 'em four, surgeries on it, is not feeling good. Kuo's on the DL now and they say he's just going to take a week off from throwing and then assess the situation. That's better news than hearing he's going to need his third Tommy John surgery, but it also doesn't necessarily mean he won't. I suppose we're in a wait and see period, but I'm just not holding a lot of high hopes that we are going to see something pretty.
Secondly, why the hell do we have an instant replay system if things like what went down in the bottom of the 7th inning of last night's game are allowed to happen.
If you missed it, Casey Blake laid down an excellent bunt down the third base line with the intent on legging it out for a single. Kevin Kouzmanoff charged, barehanded it, and made a nice throw to first to make it a close play, but it was fairly apparent Blake was safe. 1st base ump Jeff Kellogg disagreed though, and called him out.
Still, I guess we won the game, so maybe I shouldn't complain. All's well that ends well I suppose...
Wow. Ok, so that was a pretty bad call, but I guess in the scheme of things...
Oh Sweet Jesus! How do you botch a call that badly?!
Look, I understand baseball is a subjective sport when it comes to umpires. Balls, strikes, check swings (which by the way, I learned today there is no rule in the rule book on, it's entirely the umpire's choice as to whether or not it's a swing), these are all the umpire's calls. I don't want to take that away from them.
But a bang-bang play at first like last night is not subjective in the least. Either the throw beat him, or it didn't. In this case, it REALLY didn't.
So if we are going to have instant replay, we should at least give the managers a challenge flag or two like in football, or have someone in the booth watching the game who can make a call down to the field and tell somebody that the man was safe.
I mean, for God's sake, the man was safe! Dammit! Listen to me! He was safe! Soylent Green is people! You maniacs! You blew it up! The man was safe!
I wish Charlton Heston was still alive. The man knew how to yell a shocking truth like no other. But I digress...
And finally, in some almost sad news. Tanyon Sturtze was released. Look, I do feel bad for the guy. He's just chasing a dream, trying to make it as a pitcher in the big leagues again, working his way up from the minors. It's a nice thought, and I wish him well.
That said, I am soooo glad he's gone. I know he's not causing us too much trouble in AAA, but as long as he was there, and Joe Torre was here, managing, there was always a lingering possibility of hearing the news that Sturtze was called up to be in the pen.
But he's gone now. That threat is gone, too.
And the (Dodger) world is a safer place...
Man it's been a quiet week. Yeah, Ohman was signed, and we're slowly narrowing down who's going to make the roster, but otherwise, the Dodgers haven't been up to much this week.
And I'm excited. I'm starting to get the feeling that we might see some stuff go down soon.
Well, for one, we are obviously gonna get some cuts. Who's going to make it into the back of the bullpen? Weaver? Troncoso? Sturtze?
NO! And, who'll be our utility guy? It's kinda cool. Those cuts should be coming in any day now.
Secondly, I'm getting the feeling a trade is going to go down. Call it a hunch, but I think someone is going to go. We've got an abundance of outfielders, and I'm thinking 
Jason Repko could be on the move, which is too bad cause I like the guy, but the outfield is full. Unless of course someone else goes. Pierre? PIERRE? Who knows? Exciting.
Third: the season! It's coming! The season is almost here! Monday! MONDAY!!! The season! Am I clear? (The season.)
Look, I know this article was basically me frantically babbling on about nothing, but there's not much to talk about.
At least not yet.
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?!?"
I was going to do a post today about Yhency Brazoban getting released, which in a way, negates my last post. I suggested that those players were good at one point, a year or two ago, so they could be helpful now. I guess the same could be said for Brazoban. Although his good year was 2004.I was also going to talk about Josh Lindblom being promoted less than a year after being picked in the draft. I would've talked about his exciting potential and when he could possibly help out the club (probably not til 2010).Anyway, I would have talked about these things had the Dodgers not taken new pictures for the 2009 season. Now, instead, I will make fun of the pictures. (P.S. MLB.com actually refers to these files as "mugshots," that seems about accurate.)
Let's start with the person who's probably taken the least amount of professional pictures, Clayton Kershaw:
"I'm just happy to be here."Wow. If someone told him to take a picture so that he would look like a goofy, fresh faced, 21-year-old kid just breaking into the majors he couldn't have taken a better picture.
Jason Schmidt. Yay.
Someone told Rafael Furcal a dirty joke.
Is it weird that Guillermo Mota kinda frightens me with this picture? Is he snarling?
Danny Ardoin has a dirty little secret (He's hiding a body in the trunk of his car).
This is the look of a man who can't find a team that will take his contract and allow him to start. This is the look of a man who's on the fast track to being a 4th outfielder. This is the look of a man who didn't think he'd be taking this picture. It is the look of defeat.
Brian Mazone, a.k.a. the Lizard Man. I can't figure out where Brian Mazone's neck ends and Brian Mazone begins.
Edgar Martinez looks like he's about to pop.
"No, I'm not a coach! I'm going to be 35 in May! I can still pitch! I swear, I'm not 55! Why does everyone keep asking me that?" -Stephen Randolph
And... hold on a second... oh... my... God. Seriously?
What is Tanyon Sturtze still doing here? He's not retired? What the hell?!?
Player: Tanyon Sturtze
2008 Stats: 0-0, 0.00 ERA (3 games)
2008 Analysis: Tanyon Sturtze pitched 2.1 innings for us. Three games. Actually, to be honest, I remember him better as the pitching coach during the last game of the season when Nomar Garciaparra acted as manager for the day.
Sturtze is the guy who was signed by us, came up, pitched a little, then got Designated for Assignment, and instead of leaving, just asked to hang out with the team. And Joe Torre let him. So Sturtze was part reliver/part roadie for us in 2008.
2009 Outlook: Up until a few weeks ago, I would have guess retirement for Sturtze, but the Dodgers signed him to a minor league deal a few days ago. Why? I have no idea. All I can say is, I hope we don't end up using him. That being said, knowing Joe Torre, he'll be in our bullpen by July.
The Dodgers fail to score any runs and are unable to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Phillies.
Brett Myers got the win, he's 7-10. Chad Billingsley took the loss, he's 12-10.
Chad Billingsley made a "quality start." He went six innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and five walks, while striking out three. Chan Ho Park allowed two runs in the inning he worked. Tanyon Sturtze then pitched a scoreless 8th.
Offensively, the Dodgers had another difficult night at the plate. Not hit wise, though. Overall, they collected 13 hits and three walks. Matt Kemp went 3-4 with two doubles and a walk. Russell Martin went 3-4, Andre Ethier went 2-5, and Ángel Berroa went 2-5. The problem, though, was that not run was scored.
The Diamondbacks lost to the Padres, so the Dodgers are fortunate to remain only three games back in the NL West. They will start a three game series in Washington tomorrow at 4:10 L.A. time.
Also: With the loss today, the Dodgers fall under .500 (64-65).
Opinion: So... today was even worse than yesterday. Yesterday, they had 19 runners, but at least they managed to get two runs across the plate. 16 runners today, and not one run. Yesterday, they left 25 runners on base. Today: 27. I'm a little confused. Maybe it was acquiring Greg Maddux that brought on some bad voodoo or something, but apparently, somewhere between August 17th's 7-5 win over Milwaukee and August 19th's 3-8 loss to Colorado, we forgot how to drive in runs. 
We've played seven games since August 18th. Here are the run totals: 3,3,3,1,2,2,0. We are 1-6 over that span, and that is only because the Dodgers were able to hold the Rockies to one run on August 21st. We are going in the wrong direction at the wrong time of the season. I'm not ready to freak out and pull the plug on the season. We haven't been hitting this past week, but I'm pretty sure it's just a slump. The bats can come around. The pitching should stay solid. And I'm holding out hope, because we play only six games against a team over .500 the rest of the season, and that would be two series against Arizona. We can win in this last month and change. We can win the NL West, especially because as bad as we've been playing, Arizona isn't playing that much better (three losses in their last four games). We can get to the playoffs. We can do all that, we'd just better be playing stronger by the time we get there.
The Dodgers get bested by the Phillies offense and pitching and lose the first game of this four game series.
Kyle Kendrick got the win, he's 11-7. Greg Maddux took the loss, he's 6-10.
Greg Maddux got through the first three innings unscathed and relatively effectively. He then proceeded to give up seven runs over the next 2 and 2/3 innings. His final line was 5 and 2/3 innings, seven runs on nine hits and a walk. Tanyon Sturtze came in and finished the inning. Ramon Troncoso pitched the final two innings, giving up just one run.
The Dodgers offense did not fare any better. Andre Ethier accounted for the Dodgers' only run. He went 1-4 with a solo homerun in the 1st inning. James Loney had three of the Dodgers' five hits. He went 3-4 on the day. Manny Ramírez collected two walks on the day, and Mark Sweeney had a pinch hit single in the 7th, and that was the entire Dodger offensive output for the day.
Fortunately for the Dodgers, the Florida Marlins came back from a run down to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks and keep the Dodgers within two games in the NL West. The Dodgers will try again tomorrow at 12:55 L.A. time.
Also: Andre Ethier's homerun was his 16th, which puts in him first place on the team.
Opinion: Just a bad game for the Dodgers. Let's chalk it up to no rest off the long flight. We struggled with hitting. 
We struggled with pitching. We just struggled. I have nothing more to say, I mean it. Seriously. Just forget about this game and move on... I don't mean to take anything away from Mark Sweeney (yes I do), but great job on getting a pinch hit single with two outs in the 7th inning and the Dodgers trailing 7-1. It is a hit though, so I will give him that.
The Dodgers struggle with both offense and pitching and fall to the Rockies in the first game of this three game series.
Ubaldo Jiménez got the win, he's 9-11. Hiroki Kuroda took the loss, he's 7-9.
Hiroki Kuroda gave up four runs in the first three inning, before settling down and not allowing another run through the next three. His final line was six innings, four runs on six hits and a walk, and three strikeouts. The bullpen, however, was not as good. Jason Johnson came in and pitched a scoreless 7th, but gave Matt Holliday a hanging breaking ball to start the 8th which Holliday hit out. Hong-Chih Kuo came in, gave up two walks, and then a three-run homerun that, for all intents and purposes, ended the game.
The Dodger offense, despite collecting 11 hits and two walks over the game, were only able to cash in three runs. They even had five doubles on the day. Jeff Kent went 3-5 with one of those doubles and a RBI. 
Matt Kemp went 2-5, both of which were doubles, and added a RBI and a run. Casey Blake went 2-4, and both of his hits were doubles. He also scored a run.
The Diamondbacks won today, so with the loss, the Dodgers find themselves a game back in the NL West... again... Tomorrow's game starts at 7:10 L.A. time.
Also: Tanyon Sturtze came in to relieve Kuo in the 8th, making his Dodger debut. Despite giving up a double, he managed to settled down the Rockies and get out of the inning unscathed.
Opinion: I'm a little bit stunned as to how a team can collected eleven hits (five of which were extra base hits) and not be able to score more than three runs. And one of those runs was scored on a passed ball. So really, it took eleven hits to score two runs. I'm going to go ahead and say that today (hopefully) was an anomaly. We'll see... Speaking of issues though, our bullpen struggled again. Jason Johnson is someone I have trouble trusting on the mound in an important situation, so I'm not shocked to see him give up a homerun. Worse though was Hong-Chih Kuo's performance. He has looked pretty good most of the year but recently has started to show some of his mortality. Kuo's ERA has been pretty much below 2.00 since the beginning of June, hovering around 1.75-1.80. After today, his ERA has been raised to 2.26. This could be an issue of overuse, or just an unlucky streak, we'll find out soon enough... 
Finally, Mark Sweeney came in in the 6th inning with the tying run on 2nd base and a chance to be a hero. He grounded out to the second baseman on the first pitch he saw. That's what I call a "professional at-bat." He's now 9-74... but at least he got to meet Chazz Palminteri.
