So ... that was an odd week.
If I were to tell you at the beginning of the week that the Dodgers would go 3-3 in three games sets versus the Cardinals and Angels, would you guess a sweep of the Cardinals and then a sweep by the Angels? Would you?! I think not. The results this week were not necessarily odd, just unexpected.
No, no. The odd this week seemed to come more from off the field than on it.
Draft Dodgers (SEE WHAT I DID THERE?!)
The annual amateur draft was held this week, and the Dodgers made a couple picks that might be considered odd.
First, they drafted an 18 year old pitcher who almost everyone feels is "unsignable." You can read my thoughts here ... as if you didn't already.
But, here's just a couple other things I noticed.
Logan White seems to have something against the coaches at LSU because he's trying to steal all their players.
First he drafts Zach Lee in the 1st round, who has a strong commitment to LSU.
Later, in the sixth round, White drafted Kevin Gausman, another high schooler with who seems committed to LSU.
But White didn't stop there. Before he drafted Gausman, he drafted LSU's center fielder Leon Landry in the 3rd round, and after, in the 8th round, he drafted LSU's 1st baseman Blake Dean.
In an ideal world, the Dodgers would take both of LSU's top pitching recruits, their center fielder, and their first baseman.
Lucky for LSU, the Dodgers will probably sign neither Lee nor Gausman, so at least their rotation will be ok next year.
The second thing I noticed was the Dodgers drafted (and signed) someone who already has my support because of his facial hair.
"What?" you ask. I'll tell you.
In the 28th round, the Dodgers drafted Mike Drowne out of Sacred Heart University. Now, I like to look up a little bit of info on the players the Dodgers draft so I went to Sacred Heart U's website and navigated my way to the athletics page and then to Drowne's page, where I found this amazing profile pic.
They look like vertical parenthesis for his mouth!
Immediately, I was intrigued. I mean, it's fantastic! He looks like a villain from the 1800s. A train magnate who wants to demolish a small town to build his railroad empire ... and yes, he's wearing a tophat in this scenario.
However ... I was disappointed when I visited the website a few days later to see an article talking about Drowne being drafted. Accompanying said story was this picture of Drowne.
Suddenly, heart-breakingly mustache-less.
Admittedly, this soured me on Drowne just a bit.
I later realized, though, it does take a certain kind of bravado (or stupidity) to take a profile picture of yourself with a crazy set of fake facial hair and allow it to go up on a website that's going to be visited by a good amount of people.
So, Mike Drowne, if you are reading this, and I'm sure you are, I'm not mad at you for the fake facial hair, and I'm telling you this: if you grow back that facial hair and keep it through your trip in the minors, and you have my full support.
The McCourts Did Something Crazy, Though Really, Not Totally Surprising
Ok, seriously, at this point, is there anyone left in the McCourt camp?
I mean, is there any Dodger fan who's been following the events of the past year or so who still fully supports either of the McCourts as owner of this team?
If so, this one is for you...
The McCourts hired and paid a six figure salary to an old Russian to send positive vibes, or "V Energy" to the Dodgers.
This has already been sufficiently discussed/made fun of on various blogs (like MSTI, MoKM, and SoSG) so I'll just add one thing, the thing that makes me most sad about all this.
Yes, this whole thing is impossibly stupid/incredibly insane/a tremendous waste of money ... pick your choice.
The real sad thing about all this is this question: were you really shocked? To be honest, I wasn't.
Sure, I was surprised. It's hard to see something like this coming. But at this point, did anyone read this article and react with disbelief. "Noooo ... the McCourts couldn't have done something so irrational ... they wouldn't have paid all this money to some crazy Russian guy who knows nothing about baseball! Impossible!"
I think, at least for Dodgers fans, the McCourts have entered the Tyson Zone. For those who don't know, the Tyson Zone (described here) was created by Bill Simmons as a way to describe an athlete (or in this case, team owner) whose behavior is so odd that any story you ready about them, no matter how bizarre, is believable.
For example, if you were to read tomorrow that the McCourts spent a million dollars two seasons ago to uproot the grass in the outfield and replant it with special Australian fertilizer that would bring good fortunes to the team, would you blink an eye? Oh, and by the way, to pay off the dirt, parking is being raised to $25 a car.
Or, say you read tomorrow that the McCourts were fighting for custody of Reed Johnson. Would you faint from surprise?
It's really unfortunate that it has come to this. The Dodgers are one of the most historic franchises in baseball, and right now the McCourts are making them a laughing stock. I mean, how many pre-season predictions did you read this Spring Training that had the Dodgers not finishing in first in the NL West because of distractions with ownership?
Luckily, at least so far, the Dodgers have been able to avoid front office issues. I mean, hey, they were in first place at one point this week before finishing the week a game behind the Padres.
But that's not to say the Dodgers haven't been affected. Just this week, the Dodgers most likely forfeited a first round pick on a player that was always going to be too expensive to sign. And this comes after they forfeited two other early picks when they didn't offer arbitration to Randy Wolf and Orlando Hudson this offseason.
... What do you believe an owner's role should be with a team? I see it as this: First, the Owner should pony up the money. The Owner should never be afraid to put money into their team. If they don't want to spend, then they shouldn't be an Owner. Two, the Owner shouldn't embarrass the team. That doesn't mean they necessarily need to be the face of the team (see Arte Moreno), but if you aren't going to put on a good front, then just disappear into your Owner's box. Be a silent owner. Show up to hold up the Championship Trophy and then go away. The last thing you should be doing is filling newspaper headlines with your divorce hearings or doing things like hiring Rasputin for a six figure sum to send brain waves and advise you on team decisions.
Mike Drowne: this facial hair is also acceptable...
Look, McCourts, if you guys are fans of the game like you've always purported to be, then you should understand that you are making a mockery of one of the storied franchises.
If you were really fans of baseball, you'd sell the Dodgers or step down as owners.
Because at this point, you are not just embarrassing yourselves, you are embarrassing all of us.
So, I was watching the first round of the MLB draft on MLB Network earlier today, and the Dodgers were on the clock.
Now despite the fact that I know almost absolutely nothing about the kids being drafted except the most basic of information (I've heard good things about #1 pick Bruce Howard ... he's going to be the next Steve Strasman) I still get pumped for the draft.
Horrible, insane looking Strasburg picture courtesy of Yahoo! Sports.
So even though I had to sit through Bud Selig pronounce Los Angeles as "Los Angeleees" several times, I patiently awaited the announcement of the Dodger pick.
The time came, and Bud Selig stepped to the podium in all his wrinkly glory and proclaimed the Dodgers had selected Zach Lee with the 28th pick.
And almost immediately there was some negativity. The Twitter-sphere was confused. The MLB Network guys already started talking about signability issues. And then, oddly enough, in the space where the MLB Network guys had been showing scouting footage of other players all day, they began showing clips of Zach Lee playing high school football.
And that was it. They showed some grainy footage of Lee completing a pass in some football game then went immediately to an interview with an unrelated old guy.
It was all very ... different.
I mean, seriously. Google Image search "Zachary Lee baseball" and you get mostly football pictures.
Response continued to pour in, most of it confused or unfavorable.
Jim Callis chimed in with: "WOW. LAD was about the last team I would have expected to take Zack Lee. Can they really sign him?"
Joe Sheehan felt that the Dodgers were "blatantly pushing [their] pick into 2011."
The more I read about, the more it started to seem like the biggest question was not whether Lee would be signed or not, but rather: is the best analogy for what the Dodgers did in the first round a punt or a fold?
I mean, this kid seems all ready to go play two sports as LSU next year. Some reports say he was asking for at least $5 million before considering not fulfilling his commitment to LSU (although others have said it's all a ploy to get more money at the bargaining table).
Basically, a big part of the picture being painted here is something like this: Lee is going to need a lot of money to sign. A lot. (Lest you forget that Matt Kemp is only making $4 million this year.) The rest of the picture is two words: Frank McCourt. As a whole, the picture looks pretty bleak.
But I started giving it some thought.
First I read the article on Dodgers.com. Logan White was optimistic, saying:
"People can think what they want, he was the best talent available and I want to sign him, absolutely ... I didn't take Zach to not sign him. You'll see as the summer goes along we'll make every effort to sign him, and I want to sign him. I know it won't be easy, but hopefully we'll get it done."
Now sure, this is probably just a PR job, and White said almost the exact same thing after the Dodgers picked a similarly unsignable Luke Hochevar in 2005:
"We took him with the intention of signing him. I talked to Scott a couple days ago. I feel he's signable. He wants to play. As long as the family thinks we're fair, I think the kid will sign."
I and my 5.35 career ERA demand 40 million dollars!
Still, despite all the evidence mounting against actually getting this signing done, I kept thinking about it and finally I came to this peace:
What's the worst that could happen?
Well, I mean other than spending millions of dollars on Lee to have him be a total bust.
There's really two scenarios to what happens here:
1. McCourt shells out the money, the Dodgers sign a good young pitcher.
2. The Dodgers don't sign him, he goes to college, and the Dodgers get another high pick in next years draft, which is expected to have a higher quality of amateur talent than this year's draft.
The key to all this is the fact that Lee is a quality prospect and as such, I think I can appreciate this technique. White didn't draft a more mediocre prospect who might sign for less. White went for broke.
I guess, ultimately, there's two ways to look at this: either the Dodgers punted/folded a first round pick in an act of cheapness/insanity or ... or the Dodgers made a shrewd pick at number 28 that's a possible win-win.
Of course, I might just be trying to talk some sense into a first day of the draft that didn't seem to have much.
The more I think about it, the more it seems like this week was a bad week disguised as a good week.
Don't get me wrong. Anytime you can go 5-2, you are doing fine. It's just that some of these wins really could have ended up losses.
Monday, for example, when the Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks 5-4. The Dodgers were trailing 4-2 into the 8th before scoring two runs on an error and winning the game on a balk. That's not really winning a game so much as having it handed to you on a platter.
Then you have Tuesday and Wednesday. There's two sides to these two games. You can appreciate how Dodger pitching completely shutdown the Arizona offense, but at the same time, you have to realize that the Dodger offense looked pretty weak against Arizona's starters. In fact, Arizona's starters, Dan Haren and Edwin Jackson, pitched a combined 17.0 shutout innings over the two days and it wasn't until the Dodgers cracked into the terrible Arizona bullpen that they were able to finally score some runs.
All I'm saying is: yes, the Dodgers swept the D-backs but frankly, the D-backs could have almost just as easily swept the Dodgers right back.
The Atlanta split was a little more straight forward, with neither team scoring a whole bunch of runs ... except, for, you know, when the Braves scored 9 in two innings against the Dodger bullpen.
Anyway, I only have two more things.
I'm A Little Worried About Next Few Weeks
You know this last four game series with the Braves? It was tough and close ... and the Dodgers fought for a split.
Guess what. It ain't gettin' easier.
And not just the next series. The rest of this month. Every team the Dodgers play for the rest of the month, at this moment in time, has 30 or more wins.
Here's the schedule until the end of June with the team's current records:
3 vs. Cardinals (33-23)
3 vs. Angels (31-28)
3 at Reds (33-24)
3 at Red Sox (33-25)
3 at Angels (30-28)
3 vs. Yankees (35-22)
3 at Giants (30-25)
Yeah, maybe some things change by the time we play those teams, but I'm guessing whatever the record, this next month is going to be a challenge.
Garret Anderson Hit A Walk-Off This Week And I Still Want Him Gone
Because he still went 1-13 this week.
Look, I get that Joe Torre and gang love busted down veterans better than young players, and as such, it's going to take a lot for Xavier Paul to replace Anderson on the roster.
But Joe Torre, for God's sake, stop starting Anderson. Take a look down that bench. You see Reed Johnson? He's a veteran, too. Better yet, he's a gamer. Hard-nosed and stuff.
And the best thing? He can still kinda hit. And run. And, for the most part, play defense. What's the worst that could happen? Johnson can go 0-3 like anyone else.
You seem hellbent on only starting Manny four games a week, but Anderson doesn't have to be his replacement.
I mean, neither does Johnson, but Paul isn't 30 yet, so he's out of the running.
Anderson, seen here celebrating getting a base hit.
Getting back in the swing of things. I'm glad I got back to town just in time to see the Dodgers start playing .500 baseball again.
They went 3-3 this week ... although, silver lining: they did it in such a nice pattern - L, W, L, W, L, W.
Alright, so, what happened this week?
Clayton Kershaw Continues To Regress
Admittedly, he looked shaky at times this week, but he made two starts and the final box score shows:
-6.0 IP, 0 ER (1 Run), 4 Ks
-5.0 IP, 2 ER, 9 Ks
So, you can obviously see his future is bleak.
Ryan Dempster Practices Voodoo
... It's the only way to explain how he can shut down the Dodgers so consistently. In 22 career games (12 starts) spanning 93.2 innings against the Dodgers, Dempster's ERA is 2.31. I mean ... seriously.
Notorious Dodger slayer Jake Peavy has a 2.27 career ERA against the Dodgers in 158.1 innings. Tim Lincecum's career ERA against the Dodgers is 2.96 in 48.2 innings.
Dempster is a guy, by the way, who has a career ERA of 4.39. His 2.31 mark against the Dodgers is 2nd lowest amongst all NL teams (Dempster has a 2.00 ERA against Florida, in 27 IP) and the lowest in his career against any team he's pitched over 30 innings against.
I know a pitcher's ERA versus a team over their career is a skewed stat because of all the variables (changes in lineup, changes with the pitcher himself) ... all I'm getting at is this: why in the world can't the Dodgers beat Ryan Dempster?
Ryan Dempster, seen here owning the Dodgers.
Andre Ethier Is Almost Back
... and I'm giddy like a school girl.
After being shutout twice by the Cubs (Tuesday vs. Dempster and Thursday vs. Ted *cough* cheater *cough* Lilly ... I kid. But seriously ... cheater.) the Dodgers could use him back in the lineup.
Whatever The Opposite Of A Gold Glove Is, Rafael Furcal Wins It For This Week
Furcal came off the DL this week, and apparently forgot how to play defense while he was away.
Here's a quick list of the days this week in which Rafael Furcal started a game and did not commit an error: Friday.
Seriously. This was his week:
Two errors Tuesday, one error Wednesday, pinch hit on Thursday and didn't play the field, error-less Friday, one error Saturday, and one error Sunday.
At this point, you start to wonder if it's a mental thing. Doubt that he can't make a simple play might have gotten in his head and it's screwing with him.
Or maybe it's just rust and maybe he just shakes it off. I guess we'll see...
...and finally:
The Dodgers Can't Win When Vin Scully Doesn't Call The Game
The Dodgers record in all games in Denver or West of Denver: 23-9
The Dodgers record in all games East of Denver: 5-13
I mean, it's good to be able to win at home (15-8), and it's definitely good to be able to beat up on the other NL West teams (15-5), but at some point you have to be able to get past the fact the Steve Lyons is announcing and win in a foreign land (The Dodgers play another 24 games east of Denver, plus more if we get to the playoffs).
Alright! I'm back! I was in Argentina for the last week or so. The timeline was something like this: I left when the Dodgers swept Arizona and they proceeded to lose only one game while I was gone.
I got back early Sunday morning, just in time to learn Jose Lima died and then watch the Dodgers lose ... so, sadness...
Either way, I won't do a full week review because I had limited access to information ... Still, here are a few things I was able gather, even while on another continent.
#JonHeymanIsBadAtHisJob
Clayton Kershaw's three games since then:
-8.0 IP, 0 R, 9 Ks
-7.0 IP, 1 R, 7 Ks
-7.1 IP, 1 R, 7 Ks
Chad Billingsley's four games since then:
-6.0 IP, 4 R, 3 Ks
-5.1 IP, 2 R, 7 Ks
-7.1 IP, 0 R, 6 Ks
-7.0 IP, 1 R, 5 Ks
...
Bran Penny's four games since then:
-6.0 IP, 3 R
-7.0 IP, 4 R
-5.0 IP, 7 R
-3.0 IP, 4 R (+ a trip to the DL)
#HowIsItYouGetPaidToDoThis?
Oh, and by the way, this isn't related to anything, but I gotta love this tweet.
So, wait ... are you proud of yourself for doing this? Come on...
#SeverePettiness
EDIT: Credit to MikeSciosciasTragicIllness and nineteen84 on Twitter who found out that Heyman's definition of regressing isn't "the act of trending or shifting toward a lower state" but rather "had a bad start." I guess that's good news because horrible regression turned into progression in less than a month.
Gotta love how he plays it off not like he was wrong, but that he can just make bold declarations with no substance whenever he wants, then change his mind depending on circumstances. Bravo for journalism!
Broken Pinkies Suck
Probably doesn't need much more explanation, but seriously: Ethier is having a Triple Crown season and a broken pinkie derails him (at least temporarily). Suckage.
Ramon Ortiz Continues To Prove Me Right
I wrote way back in my thoughts on Opening Day I was not a fan of Ramon Ortiz, nor Russ Ortiz.
Now, some people who shall remain unnamed jumped all over me for this, calling me such things as "nimrod." Granted, I didn't give a whole lot of evidence to prove either Ortiz was a bad pitcher, I was just acting on a baseball hunch.
I'll admit I'm not always right, or probably not even mostly right. I've said stupid things on this blog. But guess what ... I nailed this.
Russ Ortiz had a 10.29 ERA when he was Designated for Assignment less than three weeks after I wrote that post. Not long after that he retired so he could spend more time BEING A HORRIBLE PITCHER WITH HIS FAMILY!
Meanwhile, Ramon Ortiz continues to defy odds and common sense by taking up a roster spot. He's sporting a nice 6.30 ERA in 30 innings. 30. That's not a: "Oh, I gave up two runs in three innings" six ERA. It's a: "I've been in 16 of the 44 games this season and made two starts" six ERA. What I'm saying is, it's not a small sample size. Ortiz is bad. Ortiz needs to be replaced.
I was right all along.
So that was odd. It was a week that ultimately saw the Dodgers go .500, but I can't remember a week that had more highs and lows. And not just highs and lows, but highs that were really high, and lows that were really low.
I mean, look at these games. Dodgers get blown out on Tuesday after the Brewers score 9 runs in the second inning. Then on Wednesday, the Dodgers blew a close game late when the bullpen gave up 7 runs in the 8th and 9th innings. And on Saturday, the Rockies scored six runs in the first and shut the Dodgers out the rest of the way. Three games ... three ugly losses.
But the three wins? A walk-off Grand Slam on Thursday, a close back and forth game the Dodgers pulled a win out of on Friday, and on Sunday, the Dodgers won a pitchers' duel against arguably the best pitcher in the league. Three games ... three really nice wins.
And so, with that, let's take a look at the players who made it the week that was. It's going to be a little shortened because it's late and I'm coming off a Mother's Day high.
Andre Ethier - Ethier had another fantastic week, going 10-22 with a walk, two doubles, and a walk-off Grand Slam. Oh, and by the way, he's either in the lead (BA and RBIs) or tied for the lead (HRs) in all three of the Triple Crown categories.
John Ely - One start for Ely this week, and a pretty good one. 6.2 innings, one run, seven strikeouts. He was a stopper when the Dodgers needed one. And his reward? A demotion to AAA. Yep, Ely was sent back to AAA while Ramon Ortiz remains on the roster. A demotion for a young player in favor of a broken down veteran. On Joe Torre's watch? What?! But more on that later.
Clayton Kershaw - Kershaw's week mirrored the Dodgers' week in general. His low was probably the lowest of his career. 1.1 innings, 7 runs. Just an ugly, ugly, terrible, ugly start. But his high mark, 8.0 innings, no runs, 9 strikeouts, was arguably the best of his career. Two starts, one awful, one brilliant = two stars for the week.
Charlie Haeger - What's going to be forgotten in Haeger's week is that he did provide 4.0 innings of quality relief on Tuesday. Still, it's impossible to overlook his start on Saturday. He wasn't able to record an out and ended up credited with five runs. He most likely lost his spot in the rotation if not on the roster as a whole.
Garret Anderson - Anderson is my new Mark Sweeney. Especially because Anderson has now committed a similar crime to what Mark Sweeney did in 2008. He's unbelievably, impossibly bad, yet somehow manages to take up a roster spot that should belong to a younger player who deserves it better.
In Anderson's case, he's now occupies a roster spot that rightfully belongs to Xavier Paul. Now look, I'm not mad at Anderson personally. He's a baseball player just trying to keep his job and he didn't make the decision to send Xavier Paul back to AAA. But seriously, is there one thing Anderson does better than Paul? One single thing? Fielding? No. Throwing? No. Running? No. And at this point, not even hitting.
Admittedly, this is a small sample size, but in 29 at-bats for Paul, he hit .276, had a .323 OBP, and slugged .483 (that's a .805 OPS in case you were wondering). Anderson, on the other hand, went 1-6 this week, bring his season total (in 48 at-bats) to 6 hits. That brings his average for the season to ... .125. His OBP is .157! His slugging is .208! In case you are too lazy to do the math, that's a .365 OPS.
So ... yeah, there's absolutely no reason to keep Anderson over Paul unless, of course, the managerial staff has a thing for keeping around useless veterans at the end of the careers while sending down better younger players at the cost of making the team worse as a whole ... but that would be ... that would be just crazy...
The Dodgers head back on the road this week, where they are 4-11. It is, however, against two NL West teams (the Diamondbacks and Padres) and the Dodgers are 6-3 against NL West teams this season. Something has got to give, let's hope it's the horrible road record.
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?
They look like vertical parenthesis for his mouth!
Suddenly, heart-breakingly mustache-less.
Mike Drowne: this facial hair is also acceptable...
