Player: Jason Johnson
2008 Stats: 1-2, 5.22 ERA (16 games, two starts)
2008 Analysis: Wow, Johnson actually pitched more innings than Loaiza in 2008. Interesting. I only have three memories of Johnson. One, he had a good start (that was July 29th against the Giants) and two and three, that he came twice in extra innings to end the game (not in our favor: August 5th against St. Louis and September 26th against the Giants ironically).
Oh, I also remember he has diabetes and a little pack attached to his belt. That's a nice story...
2009 Outlook: The Yankees picked up Johnson for the 2009 season, which is just fine by me. He seems like a nice guy (not that I'd know) and I'm sure he's a good role model for kids with diabetes, but he can't pitch well, which is unfortunate given his career choice.
Player: Esteban Loaiza
2008 Stats: 1-2, 5.63 ERA (seven games, three starts)
2008 Analysis: Wow! Was that really this year that Esteban Loaiza was with us? That's amazing. Until researching for these pieces, I hadn't remembered him, or at least I thought that was a year or two ago.
Well, I guess it was this year. And he made three starts? Wow. He actually pitched 24 innings. Wow. The only vague memory I have of him is throwing some soft low-80s fastball to somebody, and that person demolished it. And then Loaiza was gone.
2009 Outlook: Well, sensibly, Loaiza was Designated for Assignment pretty fast into the 2008 season and ended up with the Chicago White Sox, where he played in three games the rest of the year. I don't know where he is now (maybe retired? maybe a free agent? The White Sox released him in July after those three games and a trip to the disabled list), but I'm guessing we are still paying him part of his contract to be there.
Player: Hong-Chih Kuo
2008 Stats: 5-3, 2.14 ERA, 96 Ks (42 games, three starts)
2008 Analysis: I think Dodger fans always knew that Hong-Chih Kuo would be something special if he could stay healthy. He proved us right in 2008 (although he was injured by the end of the season).
His ERA was only about 3.00 for a few games early in the season, but for most of the season, he was in the 2.00 ERA range and even had a good two and a half months where he was under 2.00. His WHIP was 1.01, and he racked up 16 more strikeouts than innings pitched. It was a pretty good year.
Plus, he won the "TYIB Setup Man" award, and more importantly, the "J's Dodger Blog 2008 Reliever of the Year" award.
2009 Outlook: Well, if Hong-Chih Kuo can remain healthy, he'll be excellent in our bullpen in 2009, as either lefty reliever, setup man, long reliever, or even closer. The key words there being "if Hong-Chih Kuo can remain healthy."
These are the relievers who made a couple starts during the season.
Player: Chan Ho Park
2008 Stats: 4-4, 3.40 ERA, 79 Ks (54 games, five starts)
2008 Analysis: Chan Ho Park really revived his career coming back to the Dodgers. After appearing in only one game in 2007 for the New York Mets, he signed a contract to come back to the Dodgers. And he was, for the most part, pretty impressive.
His 3.40 ERA is a bit deceiving as he had a sub-3.00 ERA for most of the year until a late season meltdown.
Oh, and he also won the "J's Dodger Blog 2008 Comeback Player of the Year" award.
It was a pretty good year for Chan Ho, so much so, that he decided he could ask for a starting pitcher role in 2009, which leads to...
2009 Outlook: Chan Ho signed with the Philadelphia Phillies earlier in the offseason because they said he'd have the possibility of becoming their 5th starter. I somewhat alluded to it in that post, but this might not be such a good idea for Chan Ho. Chan Ho left us in 2001 and in the seven seasons he spent away from us, he never had an ERA below 4.80. In fact, only pitching for San Diego in 24 games in 2006 did he have an ERA under 5.00. His worst years came in Texas, where the baseball fly out of the park.
So what did Chan Ho Park do when this offseason came around. He left the Dodgers and signed a contract with a team who plays in one of the smallest parks in the majors, where balls are constantly flying out of the yard.
I'm not condemning Chan Ho back to a career of failures, but I'm just saying his 2009 outlook doesn't look too good.
2008 Analysis: Wow, Johnson actually pitched more innings than Loaiza in 2008. Interesting. I only have three memories of Johnson. One, he had a good start (that was July 29th against the Giants) and two and three, that he came twice in extra innings to end the game (not in our favor: August 5th against St. Louis and September 26th against the Giants ironically).
