March Madness
For some reason, there were hardly any comments on the last post and I think I know why. Everyone is trying to figure out who to pick in the NCAA Tournament and therefore they too preoccupied to waste away the day on Inside the Dodgers. So I’ll save you time by saying this: It doesn’t really matter who you pick – we’re all basically guessing anyway, so just put your picks in and get back to posting on the blog.
I actually find it very funny that at this time of year, everyone starts to pretend like they’ve been watching college basketball. Most sports fans can name the five top players in the country and can usually contribute a coach’s name when a team goes up on the board, but otherwise there isn’t really anyone I’ve ever met who could actually tell me whether Davidson actually could beat Notre Dame. Heck, most people can’t even tell me where Davidson is, let alone who plays for them. But for the record, I’ve got them upsetting the Fighting Irish (and I’ve finished fourth out of about 125 entries in the office pool two years in a row).
And then there are my beloved Indiana Hoosiers, who just might surprise some people this year. Then again, they might not. I know the whole team backwards and forwards and I still can’t tell you if they have any shot of holding off Gonzaga in the first round.
What does this all have to do with baseball or the Dodgers? Nothing, I guess. I just figured it was time to start a new post to get people talking again. So take this fun fact to the bank: Three different Dodgers all went to the University of South Alabama – Luis Gonzalez, Marlon Anderson and Juan Pierre. Too bad the Jaguars didn’t make it to the big dance.
Then there’s the random connection between Mark Hendrickson and the NCAA tournament – he actually played in it! Mark was at Washington State and played for Indiana’s current coach, Kelvin Sampson. (By the way, I have Oral Roberts upsetting Hendrickson’s Cougars in the first round).
As for the rest of the 40-man Dodgers, none of the other college guys have teams in the tourney. No Georgia Tech (Nomar), Pepperdine (Wolf), U. of Pacific (Houlton), Cal (Kent) or ASU (Ethier). But you better believe the non-rosters will be paying close attention, especially Travis Smith (Texas Tech) and Jonathan Meloan (U of Arizona).
Now get back to work…
Inside the Dodgers 
Am I on a different planet or does ND play Winthrop? And GA Tech is the 10 seed in the same bracket.
I have Oral Roberts to upset Wash St. and I have Oregon making it to the Elite eight.
Oh very cool I just filled out my bracket for my college pool, some upsets I have predicted for some first round matchups are:
Winthrop over Notre Dame
Michigan St over Marquette
George Wasington over Vanderbilt
Texas Tech over BC
Villanova over Kentucky
Gonzaga over Indiana
Xavier over BYU
and Creighton over Nevada
Tigers at Dodgers: Spring Training Update: Top 1: Derek Lowe Pitching:
Curtis Granderson grounds to Saenz at first
Neifi Perez singles to center
Magglio Ordonez grounds to Furcal at short, Perez to second
Chris Shelton flies to Ethier in right
0 Runs 1 Hit 1 LOB End of 1/2 inning No Score
Tigers at Dodgers: Spring Training Update: Bottom 1: Nate Robertson Pitching:
Rafael Furcal grounds to short
Russell Martin (DH) walks
Olmedo Saenz reaches on a bad hop that got by Inge, the third baseman and went down the left field line and Saenz went to second on a double, Martin scores, 1-0 Dodgers
Jeff Kent walks after a good at bat of about 10 pitches
Luis Gonzalez forces Kent at second 3-6, Saenz to third
Wilson Betemit strikes out looking
1 Run 1 Hit 2 LOB End of 1 1-0 Dodgers
Josh…
Ga Tech is in the tourney, and I have them going to the elite 8 (you can tell Nomar that!).
And Notre Dame plays Winthrop!
and if everyone knows whats really good about this tournament, then you’ll pick UCLA to be in Final Four, if not to win the whole thing.
Go Bruins!
Go Dodgers!
-Abu
UCLA Alum
Tigers at Dodgers: Spring Training Update: Top 2: Derek Lowe Pitching:
Omar Infante reaches on an infield single to third
Brandon Inge flies to Kemp in center
Vance Wilson 5-4-3 Double Play
0 Runs 1 Hit 0 LOB End of 1 1/2 1-0 Dodgers
Tigers at Dodgers: Spring Training Update: Bottom 2: Nate Robertson Pitching:
Andre Ethier strikes out swinging
Matt Kemp reaches on an infield single to second, ball was hit the to the right of Infante who got a glove on it but could not make the play
Kelly Stinnett walks, Kemp to second
Furcal grounds to short, Kemp to third, Stinnett to second
Martin grounds to second
0 Runs 1 Hit 2 LOB End of 2 1-0 Dodgers
Tigers at Dodgers: Spring Training Update: Top 3: Derek Lowe Pitching:
Mike Rabelo grounds out
Cameron Maybin grounds out
Granderson grounds out
0 Runs 0 Hits 0 LOB End of 2 1/2 1-0 Dodgers
Tigers at Dodgers: Spring Training Update: Bottom 3: Nate Robertson Pitching:
Saenz grounds to short
Kent grounds to short
Gonzalez singles to right
{Jason Grilli (a righty) relieves Robertson (a lefty)}
Betemit (now batting lefty) doubles to left center, Gonzalez to third
Ethier walks, bases loaded
Kemp strikes out looking
0 Runs 2 Hits 3 LOB End of 3 1-0 Dodgers
Thanks for the updates alex41592
1) My school just missed it, but they lost the CAA championship literally at the last minute in a heartbreaker in Richmond. Too bad, because they were a lot of fun in the tournament last year . . .
I still like Florida.
2) Glancing around the league, I noticed Matsuzaka gave up 2 homers in a game on Sunday. The two guys he gave the bombs up to probably won’t make the club (Orioles) out of spring training. I’m still skeptical and waiting to see what he actually does, though.
3) Back last June, Alay Soler beat the Dodgers for his first major league win. In case you’re wondering, the Mets just released the guy.
4) Some of these MLB.com articles aren’t very good. Take the one that says the Angels could have the best outfield; that’s if Gary Matthews is actually going to keep up his 2006 performance, which I’d doubt.
5) Fine, I’ll go ahead and say it: I’ve got Florida repeating as NCAA champs.
Tigers at Dodgers: Spring Training Update: Top 4: Derek Lowe Pitching:
Kevin Hooper flies to Kemp in center
Ordonez doubles to left center
Shelton grounds to third
Infante strikes out swinging
0 Runs 1 Hit 1 LOB End of 3 1/2 1-0 Dodgers
Tigers at Dodgers: Spring Training Update: Bottom 4: Jason Grilli Pitching:
Stinnett grounds to third
Furcal hits a ground rule double to deep right field
Martin lines a double down the left field line, Furcal scores, 2-0 Dodgers
Saenz grounds to second, Martin to third
Kent grounds to third
1 Run 2 Hits 1 LOB End of 4 2-0 Dodgers
updates much appreciated alex. nate robertson is no slouch spring training or not, nice to see.
Tigers at Dodgers: Spring Training Update: Top 5: Derek Lowe Pitching:
Inge strikes out swinging
Wilson singles to center
Rabelo grounds to Abreu at second, Wilson to second
Maybin singles to center, Wilson scores, 2-1 Dodgers
During Granderson’s at bat, Maybin was caught stealing at second
1 Run 2 Hits 0 LOB End of 4 1/2 2-1 Dodgers
Tigers at Dodgers: Spring Training Update: Bottom 5: Edward Campusano (lefty) Pitching:
Gonzalez hits a ground rule double to right
Betemit (batting righty) singles to center, Gonzalez to third
Ethier strikes out swinging
Kemp forces Betemit at second, Gonzalez scores as Kemp flew down the line to beat the throw from second, 3-1 Dodgers
Stinnett strikes out swinging
1 Run 2 Hits 1 LOB End of 5 3-1 Dodgers
Tigers at Dodgers: Spring Training Update: Top 6: Chin-hui Tsao Pitching: Derek Lowe went 5 innings and only had 51 pitches:
Granderson grounds to Tsao
Hooper strikes out swinging
Ordonez walks
Shelton strikes out swinging
0 Runs 0 Hits 1 LOB End of 5 1/2 3-1 Dodgers
Tigers at Dodgers: Spring Training Update: Bottom 6: Campusano Pitching:
Wilson Valdez pops to second
Martin hits a ground rule double to right
Saenz strikes out swinging
Tony Abreu hits a rocket line drive to the pitcher who snags it for the out
0 Runs 1 Hit 1 LOB End of 6 3-1 Dodgers
Martin’s looking good, no?
I have UCLA and Florida in the finals, repeat from last year. And I can’t decide who wins…UCLA if their big men produce defensively and don’t get into foul trouble. Florida otherwise, I think. Florida wins a really close game because of UCLA’s trouble at the foul line.
Looks like Lowe was the first pitcher on the staff to throw five innings and a “Grady Little” complete game. : )
Thanks for the updates Alex…
Martin looks like he’s getting his stroke back…
Betemit got a couple of hits today… righty or lefty… don’t know. Anybody have those early stats?
wow…Betemit got a hit as a righty…someone might wanna call **** and tell them its about to freeze over.
Tigers at Dodgers: Spring Training Update: Top 7: Takashi Saito Pitching:
Infante grounds to Valdez at short
Inge walks on four pitches
Wilson reaches on a fielding error by Valdez at short, Inge to second
Rabelo grounds to Loney at first, Inge to third, Wilson to second
Maybin reaches on an error on an easy pop fly to LaRoche, Valdez and LaRoche couldn’t decide who should grab it and it bounced off the glove of LaRoche, Wilson and Inge score, 3-3 TIE
Timo Perez grounds out to Abreu at second
2 Runs on no hits and 2 big errors 1 LOB End of 6 1/2 3-3 TIE
oops.
Tigers at Dodgers: Spring Training Update: Bottom 7: Jose Mesa Pitching:
Choo Freeman reaches on a throwing error at third
Andy LaRoche 6-4-3 Double Play (it’s just not his day today)
Ethier grounds to first
0 Runs 0 Hits 1 Error 0 LOB End of 7 3-3 TIE
Tigers at Dodgers: Spring Training Update: Top 8: Rudy Seanez Pitching:
Hooper bunts and Loney runs up dives and makes the catch
Brent Clevlen pops to Abreu
Shelton strikes out looking
0 Runs 0 Hits 0 LOB End of 7 1/2 3-3 TIE
Tigers at Dodgers: Spring Training Update: Bottom 8: Bobby Seay Pitching:
Kemp lines to left
Sandy Martinez strikes out swinging
Valdez singles up the middle
Larry Bigbie strikes out swinging
0 Runs 1 Hit 1 LOB End of 8 3-3 TIE
Tigers at Dodgers: Spring Training Update: Top 9: D.J Houlton Pitching:
Infante grounds to short
Brent Dlugach strikes out swinging
Steve Torrealba flies to Freeman in left
0 Runs 0 Hits 0 LOB End of 8 1/2 3-3 TIE
Tigers at Dodgers: Spring Training Update: Bottom 9: Bobby Seay Pitching:
James Loney grounds to the pitcher
Tony Abreu HITS A WALK OFF HOME RUN to deep left field
1 Run 1 Hit 0 LOB
R H E
Tigers
3 5 1
Dodgers
4 11 2
WP: D.J Houlton
LP: Bobby Seay
Time of Game: 2:40
Abreu – walk-off homer bottom 9.
11 hits…if only we hadn’t had those 2 errors in the same inning, that would have been a beautiful outing by all acounts. Only 1 run against the Dodgers was earned.
wow Abreu keeps having an impressive spring. Hopefully Kent retires after this year.
Third consecutive post…does anyone know what Abreu is built like? If he’s at all similar to his brother (in build or skills) he could be quite the valuable 2b after Kent goes. Bobby is the best kind of middle-of-the-lineup hitter – pop and patience – and Tony seems to be exhibiting some of the pop this spring.
tony abreu is definitely turning some heads, looks like we got our second basemen of the future. kent’s replacement wont be hard to find.
btw does anyone know anything about BJ Lamura, the guy we got from the white sox last year? havent heard anything about him, is he in minor league camp?
bobby abreu is not tony abreu’s brother.. tony is 5’9 and his power surge during the spring has been shocking so far…
Max (Max… Max)
Great to see Abreu hitting the ball well, but hoping for Kent’s retirement is really silly.
Its 99.9 % sure Abreu’s best MLB year will be nowhere near what kent has been doing year in- year out.
He maybe done, but I don’t think so. The guy was hurt last year, it happens. He may very well still be the best hitting second baseman of all time.
check out the table setters article on mlb.com, great piece.
Tony Abreu 5’9″, 187 lbs, 22 years old:
Year Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS OBP SLG AVG
2003 A-Vero Beach 3 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 .091 .000 .000
2003 R-Dodgers 45 163 30 48 7 5 0 20 11 24 9 3 .358 .399 .294
2004 A-Vero Beach 11 43 8 18 3 1 0 3 1 8 4 1 .435 .535 .419
2004 A-Columbus 104 359 50 108 21 8 8 54 8 59 16 12 .326 .471 .301
2005 AA-Jacksnville 24 96 10 24 3 2 0 9 4 21 0 2 .284 .323 .250
2005 A-Vero Beach 96 394 54 129 23 7 4 43 15 56 14 10 .356 .452 .327
2006 AA-Jacksonville 118 457 66 132 24 3 6 54 33 69 7 4 .345 .394 .289
Notre Dame (6) can meet Davidson (13) only in the regional final – doesn’t seem likely.
Okay – who’s the only player to appear in the Rose Bowl, Super Bowl, Grey Cup (Canadian Football League), and the NCAA championship tournament?
Hint: Jeff Kent might know the answer 🙂
Are Bobby and Tony cousins or anything then? I swear I read something about them being related some time ago.
suekamm – I am guessing Jeff Garcia was the only player to appear in the Rose Bowl, Super Bowl, Grey Cup (Canadian Football League), and the NCAA championship tournament? I know Warren Moon, Doug Flutie, Dave Dickinson and Jeff Garcia played in Canada and also QBin US. So my guess is Garcia.
I guess I missed the Georgia Tech entry. My bad. Glad it sparked a little conversation today.
As for Abreu, he is having one heck of a spring but is not related to Bobby in any way.
I’m hoping Kent has a super year. It is good to have Abreu waiting in the wings. He needa a year at AAA as do Kemp and LaRoche. I think Loney is ready now. I like his plate discipline which seems to be like Russell Martin’s. I do wish Delwyn Young would get traded so he can play at the MLB level somewhere. Maybe he doesn’t have the necessary tools but would like for him to get a chance since he went to outfield from 2B as asked by the Dodgers.
i like all your points euhlman. young strikes out a bit much, but alot of players do and he has some power. i love the idea of having loney in the lineup. i think the 51’s will be pretty stacked this year though.
Wow, Bills sent to the ‘pen. Im a little surprised they made that call already. These things can change though, he may start at some point in the year….
yeah i can’t believe Bills got sent to the pen thats a mistake i think. If Tomko gets the rotation spot ill start being an angels fan until grittle is fired.
With Bills guaranteed a spot in the bullpen you can pretty much guarantee Tomko or Hendrickson will be traded when one or both do not make the rotation. Tomko doesn’t want to go back to the bullpen and there’s not one person in the world who can tell me with a straight face Hendrickson is better in the rotation than Kuo, as far as i’m concerned Kuo is the 5th starter. Unless they decide to start the season with Tomko in that role for the first month with Kuo starting in Vegas till they realize the mistake and place Kuo where he belongs. Regardless this is a great situation for the team to have 9 potential starters willing and ready to start for this team. Also, that is a sick 1-2-3 punch, Bills-Broxton-Saito.
i dont know…grady is dumb enough to stick with tomko for a while. Atleast send Bills to triple A. He has way too much up side for the bullpen.
Kuo has serious injury concerns. He has never played a full year of professional baseball until this past season. He has never finished a full season as a starter in professional baseball.
we are talking about the guy who left Hendrickson in the rotation for 8 straight loses.
Ah, yes this is true but then again you can’t play a full year of professional baseball if you’re not given the opportunity and he’s not going to the pen and if his arm falls apart it’s gonna happen regardless or being in Vegas or L.A and he deserves to be in L.A.
he was given an opportunity to play…he was signed in 1999 and hasnt even played a full year because he had two Tommy john surgerys. We aren’t even sure Kuo wiull be the starter. I have a feeling Tomko will be. Grittle probably fell for that whole “oh i have a new delivery now im all better”. As good as Kuo was last year Billingsley was better.
I can’t believe we have to wait for Tomko to implode before Bills can come back. This just baffles the mind. When has Tomko EVER proven to be a consistently good starter?
No disagreement that Bills was better last year, then again Bills had several more chances to show how good his stuff is as a starter, yet he also showed how inconsistent he was. But, the fact is only one can be the fifth starter, Bills is in the pen for better or worse. Kuo is healthy now and until he’s not he’s the man for the 5th starting job. Injuries are obviously apart of the game and completely unpredictable, but you can’t baby Kuo now cause if he’s gonna get hurt again it’s gonna happen and if the worst happens to him again I want it while pitching for the Dodgers in L.A and not in Vegas. What would all of you do with Kuo?
Kuo isn’t healthy. He’s just not hurt. You don’t have two tommy john surgery’s and all of a sudden be healthy. There is a reason he had a second one.
Kuo should go down to triple A prove that he can stay healthy. Build up his arm strength get used to pitching every fifth(which he didnt do when he was up last year) and get more starts under his belt. Kuo only has about 15-18 starts (5 big league) in baseball at any level.
Alex,
Start him. You can’t hide from injuries- and you cant predict them either. Kuo has actually been ok the last 2-3 years.
As posted elsewhere “smoke’em while you got’em”. If his arm falls off, we have Bills to step in. If it doesn’t, he might win 16 games.
I do love we’re talking about this issue though, it’s a great one to have cause most teams have a Brett Tomko type pitcher and when he stinks it up they don’t have a Kuo waiting in the wings among several others.
letting Kuo throw his arm out is just wrong. Kuo has talent. He’s special not many lefties can throw that hard. If we let him throw his arm out that will be a waste of talent. If we send him to triple A gradually let him build up that arm strength (which will help his arm warm up faster) he will be a great pitcher.
max
Agree, but he did thrown 112 innings last year so putting him in the # 5 slot for the Dodgers where he can get 25 starts isn’t all that drastic of a move. If he stays healthy he will get to maybe 160 innings or so- not a bad progression. Plus, innings in AAA are the same wear and tear on an arm as the bigs.
My main problem with Kuo, besides his arm, is the fact he hasn’t pitched a full season as a starter.
Kuo only had 5 starts with the Dodgers last season. One great one against the Mets and the rest were just average. Billingsley was way more impressive last year. 7-4 with a 3.80 ERA for a 21 year old is impressive. Plus his BAA with runners in scoring positon and runners on base were lights out.
i can see kuo winning 15-17 games in the 5 spot if healthy. with the contrasts in styles between all of our pitchers I think we have a pretty nasty rotation with those two leftys. they both have questions with the elbow situation but if healthy we could be going places.
Yeah, good reminder that Tony Abreu is not related to Bobby; after all, Tony’s from the Dominican and Bobby’s from Venezuela.
i can only see Kuo winning about 9 or 10 games making only about 22 starts. Besides i don’t think he’ll be the fifth starter. I think thats going to Bomko.
i hope bomko gets traded.
he won’t…he’s the fifth starter.
arghhhhh. if thats so i hope he gets off to that fast start he did last year.
You know what your gonna get out of Hendy & you sure as **** know what your gonna get out of Tomko the only logical conclusion I could think of is Kou will get the 5th starter roll & someone will be traded (Tomko/Hendy)
ps Bills is the pen for a little while doesn’t bother me all that much.
eh i kinda hope bomko bombs and grady gets egg all over his face. I tried to give grady the benefit of the doubt last year but pitching hendrickson, playing lugo and now putting bills in the bullpen has really led me to believe that we won’t win a world series with grittle at the helm.
who wants a fire grady shirt? im hoping to get some made! ha
bluebleeder…that might make sense to you and us but grady doesn’t think that way.
Grady used the players he was given…Ned got Hendrickson and Lugo, and he didn’t make those trades so they could be benched. Grady was giving Ned the benefit of the doubt by trying to let the players prove themselves.
You guys are hilarious! It’s like the season has started or something and are already calling for Grady’s head… and there’s still three weeks of SPRING TRAINING left!!
Give it some time. It’s not like the season is six months long for cryin’ out loud… oh, wait… it IS six months long. Bills will get his shot. Same with Kuo. Hendrickson is on borrowed time…
…and I really like Tomko’s “new” delivery and attitude. Let’s see how long THAT lasts… and if it doesn’t go well, then I’m certain Grady will address it at that time. It’s not like we don’t have the arms to back it up. What a nice problem to have…
Also, don’t forget that there have been talks of a trade as well…
Bottom line: it’s going to be a long season and there are many scenarios to be played out…
Go Dodgers!!
eh im not sold with tomkos new delivery. Tomko just needs to do art.
i know grittle has to work with the players he has but i mean really who would leave hendrickson in there to lose 8 straight decisions? thats not going with what you got thats just being dumb.
ROTATION:
the writing’s on the wall. tomko will be our 5th to start the season. we can skip his spot in the rotation for the first couple of weeks and he has the flexibility to work long relief in the interim. bills needs to work on his efficiency, but he’s got the goods to be a solid starter for the Blue in the near future. Kuo needs experience pitching every 5th day and will probably spend the year in AAA proving his health and abilities. of course, with injuries we can call on the services of kuo and bills… and replace bills in the pen with a guy like tsao or whoever we call up.
seems pretty clear that the loser in the race (hendy) will be traded, probably back to the american league.
if we don’t get nomar some grounders at 3rd, it also appears that betemit will be on the hot corner… nomar at 1st… but where does loney’s bat go?
I’m optimistic. I think Kuo will win the job that is rightfully his. I worry he might get hurt, but I think he’s good enough he should be pitching in the majors.
i wouldn’t say the 5th sport is rightfully Kuo’s. He had 5 starts last year. Only 5. He pitched well against a team that was awful against lefties and then he was rather average against other teams. He didn’t prove he deserved the 5th spot.
Billingsley on the other hand had 16 starts a record of 7-4 with a 3.34 ERA. He didn’t go deep into all his games but neither did Kuo. Kuo never got past the 6th while Bills went into the 7th and 8th innings at least once.
This move just blows my mind. Taking a guy in tomko who hasnt had an ERA under 4.5 since 1997 and guy like Hendrickson who, well we’ve all seen hendrickson pitch, and Kuo who all of a sudden became a 17 game winner to some people in the matter of 5 starts over Billingsley is just stupid.
It’s sad we have a good team a deep farm system with a bunch of young talent but we’ve got george w bush as our manager.
George W Bush as our manager? Good point…I guess…can we have Theodore Roosevelt as our GM then? Maybe Lincoln can play backstop.
I am not ready to offer Tomko up to the baseball gods for sacrifice. I like his initiative and move to improve his pitching, so I would like to see him get the chance. If it doesn’t work out, then we have Bills or Kuo.
Calendar Check!! : )
“Lincoln can play backstop.”
So Juan Marichal could be John Wilkes Booth.
I’m insulted @ the fact that Bomko will be our 5th starter.
Tomko was our second-best starter through late May last season, and was significant out of the bullpen in August. His contributions to last year’s team were many – no, he wasn’t lights-out, but he wasn’t a total bust. His versatility may be what earns him the 5th spot, as Kuo can only start. We’ll just have to believe Grady that Bills will benefit from bullpen work, and hope that when a trade comes, Bills and Kuo aren’t the ones to go.
Tomko will be 34 the first week of this season. He has 1539 IP in ten major-league season. In two seasons he was above average, two about average, and the rest below average. He gives up A LOT of HRs, 17 in 112 IP last year, 210 in his career. (And they’re not the bases-empty, I’ve got a four-run lead, Don Sutton variety either.) In other words, we all know what he is already and 34-year old pitchers don’t suddenly improve vastly. Let’s hope he shows enough for Jim Bowden to trade a few cases of fungo bats for him (or Hendrickson), because the Dodgers don’t need both taking up bullpen seats as starter insurance.
If the Dodgers can go to Kuo for those important September start in last year’s pennant race, they can use him as a fifth start this season. His spot can be skipped enough to keep his IP down as needed. Bills to the pen and also as 6th starter. Don’t you think there are at least ten to twenty starts going outside the first five starters?
“He gives up A LOT of HRs, 17 in 112 IP last year”
That’s just unexceptable
like all your points old fogey. although i would have liked to get a little more out of him than a case of fungo bats. i was hoping a season supply of sunflower seeds and gum, you know something we might be able to put to use sometime during the season. i liked the pack of envelopes for hendrickson bit a while back as well. hahahahah.
bomko’s fastball leaves the park in an instant, dont be fooled by the velocity, thats ok, the only thing is its about as straight as a laser and usually right in the wheelhouse.
I too fear that the decision has already been made to go with Bombko. Obviously Hendrickson isn’t the answer, so the only other option with experience would be Bombko. I’m surprised that most of you would rather go with Kuo in the 5th spot over Billingsley. Billingsley’s main problem last year was his inability to trust his stuff, he was afraid to put it over the plate, getting himself into countless jams with walked on base runners. He impressed me with his ability to get himself out of those jams, really kept his cool, especially for a kid. Towards the end of the season I could see he was getting more comfortable on the mound and really started going after batters. For these reasons, I’d have gone with Bills over any of the 5th spot candidates. Bomko was the impressive reliever last year, remember…
Okay, I agree now about Tomko. I guess I would rather have Bills have the spot then Kuo, though. So, I guess I am sol
I had a feeling all this spring that it would be Tomko. If you just look at how Kuo and Billingsley were used compared to Tomko and Hendrickson. Kuo and Bills never got a start. That wasn’t a good sign.
Bills will go to the bullpen, Kuo goes to triple A, Tomko is the fifth starter and Hendrickson goes into the bullpen. Thats how i think it will pan out this spring. Billingsley will be starting by the end of May.
Doesn’t anyone here remember the HUGE pitch counts that Billingsley (and Penny for that matter) were putting up last year? Listen, the kid’s young and needs the experience and he’ll learn to keep his pitch count down while in the bullpen. His starting the season in the pen in no way should be considered a slight in his ability. He’s going to dominate this league one day… just not today.
Tomko, for what it’s worth, has come into camp IN SHAPE and showing great stuff on his pitches again. Say what you want about the guy, but given the fact that he’s throwing the ball better than at any time he’s been with the club, why not give him a shot? And really, he’s never been on a contending team to give him the run support needed except for maybe the 2003 Cardinals and even then he went 13 and 9 with a 5.28 ERA.
And besides, if Tomko left, who’d be the team artist to replace him? Talent like that is hard to come by I say! And if you’re still not convinced, just remember that Ned probably has a card or two left up his sleeve in that trade rumor that keeps rearing its head these days. Who’s to say that Hendrickson or Tomko or even both won’t be included in such a trade, thus moving up Billingsley’s time table…
Let’s see how this portrait paints out first…
Oh… and uh… Calendar check! : )
Go Dodgers!
everyone keeps talking about trades, but who? where? how? everyone knows about tomko and i wouldnt expect to get much from him. yikes he reminds me of jason marqis with all those homers he gives up and that pathetic 5.28 era.
i have major questions about brad penny also, i understand its spring, but that ERA is bad. i think considering the way the second half went last season, we could be in for more of the same shelling to continue.
I think you’ve nailed it max power.
It seems settled, Lowe-Schmidt-Penny-Wolf-Tomko are starters. Relief will be done by Saito, Broxton, Beimel, Billingsley, Hendrickson and then who for the 11th spot and who for the possible 12th spot (seems they’d only run 11 pitchers for the first 2 weeks considering the schedule)?????
Dessens, Hamulack, Seanez, Tsao, White, Meloan? Will they then go with experience again, Dessens, Seanez or Hammy?