Today's game in SD
Furcal, SS
Pierre, CF
Nomar, 1B
Kent, 2B
Gonzo, LF
Martin, C
Ethier, RF
Valdez, 3B
Hendrickson, P
Time to snap out of the funk. It’s a speed bump in a long season, but no one likes going over them slowly, right?
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Inside the Dodgers 
I hope that the Dodgers win tonight!! Go Dodgers Go! I hope Hendrickson will pitch a great game!
Chris
http://ultimatebaseballcollector.mlblogs.com
I think the Dodgers are losing patience with Wilson Betemit faster than we fans are – he had that bad K yesterday but also had a double and scored a run after the HPB. He does well vs. righties. I would’ve sat him another day, not tonight. He certainly shouldn’t be singled out for their woes this week. Pierre, Furcal, those guys have to get it going, together. Gonzo could use a rest, too. I don’t really get it, but whatever, I hope they snap out of their funk, too, in a key early series. The game last night left a sour taste in my mouth…
Well, at least they’re jerking around Betemit AND Ethier instead of just one of them 🙂
Honestly, I trust Hendy to pitch a decent game more than I trust Betemit to get a hit. Right now at least.
I really strongly believe Betemit has been the weakest link of the team…
He has choked in key situations and as for the rest of the team they are doing there jobs for the most part with a couple bumps here and there but none so bad as Betemit.
Valdez in the lineup is a relief …
As for the outfield its going to be a long season…
I will say this about Pierre, THE GUY ADMITS HIS MISTAKES.
Believe it or not, the Dodgers just activated Matt Kemp – but optioned him to Triple-A Las Vegas. I guess he needs to prove his health down there before coming back. It’s too bad; he would’ve helped the offense come out of its funk.
I don’t understand how this will help Betemit’s confidence.
Betemit still has his good eye, don’t forget he drew some key walks – one of his walks have forced in a run so far this season, giving the Dodgers an RBI with bases loaded. Which is more than the 2 for 20-odd in bases loaded situation other hitters can say.
I will say this about Pierre – I’m sick and tired of him 😛
It is not just Pierre who needs to shape up – Furcal is not hitting either. If it wasn’t for Kent, Gonzo and Nomar, we’d still be looking for our fifth or so win this season 😉
Come to think of it, that one K yesterday was pretty bad. So I can see why the team might be getting frustrated, but I still see some good signs and, yeah, don’t see how benching really helps. But I hope the team in general picks it up in the clutch hitting dept. Kemp had a HR and a triple yesterday and don’t think he’ll be down there too long…
I’m not against the idea of giving Valdez a chance. I just think that when we do that, we should leave him in for a whole week of games. He’ll either prove himself to be a consistent 3rd baseman at the major league level, or he’ll tail off and we’ll know that he is not the answer to 3rd base, but only a possible occasional fill-in. If the latter, we already have Martinez for a fill-in. If Valdez doesn’t make it after a week of steady play, let’s try Betemit again and leave him there for a week at a time. If he still doesn’t come around, let’s bring up Abreu and give him that same opportunity and see what happens.
I’m with ya there on Abreu messagebear.Only reason he didn’t make the club out of ST is that bad slide otherwise he is Just Killing the ball, with Good leather work and speed to boot. I think he is 4 tool for sure and he does show enough pop to be 5 tool.
While on my way to work this morn i was listening to the Kfwb Dodger reports and in what i’ve read in articles this week everyone seems to have forgotten That SD tore us up with Bochy at the Helm and he is no longer there.We had our butts handed to us by him again running the show for the Halloweenies. I think he just knows how to play against this team in Dodger stadium. I donn’t think SD will be as tough for us without him this year. Just my random ramblings….
Go Blue 2007!!!
Kemp’s performance for LV yesterday indicates he’s very ready to come back. Which position player gets cut (or traded) when he’s recalled? Valdez (out of options)? Anderson (only 11 AB’s so far)? Martinez (no way)? Betemit?????
Kemp can’t be brought back for 10 days after he’s been optioned… thats the rule. Stupid of the Dodgers not to just bring him up now, even if he has to sit on the bench for a few days while he regains his strength. Valdez will probably go and I for one won’t be too sad to see him go.
Valdez will probably be the one to go, unless he comes up really hitting tonight. For my money I would deal Anderson somewhere else, even if he does not get us but a minor league prospect. He served us well for the short duration last season, but I don’t see where he really fills a need this year, and I’m not sure that he has fully recovered from his operation. I think we should bring up Bigbie as a left handed pinch hitter and possible outfield fill-in.
Martinez & Valdez are equals IMO but knowing Ned Colletti he’ll stick with “his guy” in Ramon Martinez.
Once Kemp comes back, I don’t know what use Brady Clark will serve. He certainly will get no playing time. He would be trade material also. I think he has performed well in the role that he has been given.
WOW- 10 days? what a bad call. Id liek to see kemp this weekend.
nice 9 pitch inning for Hensly, feels liek were going to help this guy get out of his rut.
I know that Grady won’t consider it, but Pierre at this point should be batting eighth and Martin second. We would probably produce a whole lot better.
I love the sueeze call there! Get back onthe horse guys, we CAN do things right. Great call by Grady I think.
bear,
No kidding.
Pierre is TERRIBLE!!!
just to keep things in perspective… the Yanks are absolutely lost. Down 7 to 4 to the Sox, Rivera gives up 4 runs in the 9th before being removed.
At least we have a reliable closer!
Bills is being misused as a relief pitcher. He was quite effective the second half of last season as a starter, but Grady is miscasting him in this long relief role.
I feel sorry for Bills. He, like Kuo, cannot relieve. You’d think the Dodgers would have figured this out, by now.
I certainly don’t want to be reactionary and I don’t think I am, but I don’t think our “youth” is as ready as we’d hope they might be. I don’t see a lack of talent/skills as much as I see so much pressure being placed on themselves to perform, causing them to fail. Not good in my estimation.
On the other hand, so many balls being hit hard tonight right at someone.
Go Blue!!!
simple fix of the pen. Send Bills down to Vegas and prepare him to take over for Tomko or whoever goes south first. Get rid of Seanez once Brozoban’s back. Call up Meloan. Done.
I agree about Bills. You can’t feel good about it when he comes in in relief. I’m not sure jspelk’s analysis is sensible, though – send down Bills and Seanez and replace them with a green rookie and a guy coming off Tommy John? But something needs to be done about middle relief now that Hendy’s a starter. I’d love to see him back in the ‘pen and one of the young kids from AAA as the 5th starter. Put Bills in the situational lefty position in the ‘pen, as Beimel is really a 7th-inning guy now. Bills’ stuff in short relief stints was pretty good last year.
i agree w/ not rushing kids, I just don’t think Bills can relieve at all and Melaon would probaby be ok. It seems like Bills can’t get warmed up in time like Kuo. I could be wrong…Besides it seems the Dodgers are intent on having Braz back, TJ surgery or not, which I don’t agree with either but whatever.
just checked..Braz just pitched a scoreless inning in Vegas but no strike outs.
and kemp homered again.
OH MY GOD! NOMAR!!!! MAN THAT WAS A SWEET SWING! BELIEVE IN THE DODGER COMEBACK!!!!
They’re playing with fire walking Gonzo to get to Martin! COME ON MARTIN!!!
RUSSELL MARTIN YOUR N.L ALL STAR CATCHER! VOTE NOW!!! I’LL SAY IT AGAIN…THANK YOU MRS. MARTIN FOR GIVING BIRTH TO THAT MAN!
Oh yes and of course Ethier his two amazing catches are why we’re leading right now!
really nice come from behind win today, should be a great series.
Go Dodgers!
one more thing, what was Bud Black thinking on walking Gonzalez to get to our BOY RUSSELL??
jspelk,
Right on the $ re: bullpen. Let Bills start in AAA till he can go 7 (he never got there before)…. I think we rushed him last year due to need.
Great win.
Russ Martin!!!!
Nomar on 5 times.
If you have not made your votes for All Star Game roster this year, make sure you have Martin and Garciaparra in those ballots!
A little worried about Ethier. After his sliding catch that made this win possible, he was slow to get up and swung the bat as if he just wanted to give up. Hope he’s feeling fine.
drj,
Bills didn’t go 7 last year because of pitch counts. He would throw 100 pitches a game but only go 5. He’s got great stuff but really isn’t polished enough to be a big-league innings-eater. I don’t know what they do with him, really, but putting him in the rotation isn’t a good idea since he can’t go longer than 5, and keeping him in the bullpen isn’t good since he ***** in middle relief.
Move Hendy back to middle relief, drop Bills to AAA to get some more polish, and bring up one of the youngsters at AAA for the 5th rotation spot.
First off ….
one more thing, what was Bud Black thinking on walking Gonzalez to get to our BOY RUSSELL??
Posted by: bluebleeder88@yahoo.com | April 27, 2007 10:18 PM
OMG I was sitting there saying I hope gonzo walks…and poof Mr Angel made it happen that was my point in an earlier post about SD not being the same team we faced lastyear. Bochy would not have done that.I was soo Pumped that Martin was gonna get the 2 out chance to get the goahead Run and although not suprised so much as ecstatic when he did!!
Point #2
Move Hendy back to middle relief, drop Bills to AAA to get some more polish, and bring up one of the youngsters at AAA for the 5th rotation spot.
Posted by: puppyhead01@hotmail.com | April 28, 2007 12:07 AM
C’mon Pup what in anything did Hendy do in the way of middle relief did or could he do with Grady running the team?Only time he gets a chance to pitch is after the game is mostly blown.I agree that Bills needs to go away but only because Grady seems to allways want to run the worst odds.Bills needs some polish and Hendy should have been given 1 more inn. Ned needs to take all the weakest links outta this team so Grady can’t use them at the worst possible times.Games tied use your Highest ERA relief Pitcher in place of your lowest ERA pitcher after he strikes out 2 of 3 in an inn? While double switching the player stuggling the hardest at the plate to lead off? We got the Win and that is all that matters but the management and coaching is way beyond precarious.Eithier is Doing a Suburb job with the glove his hitting is perking up but he needs some serious help on the basepaths once he gets on and the coaches all seem to ********.1st 3rd and pitching… and manager!!!!All very sloppy same as last year and as bad or worse then JP in CF.
Oh BTW Happy Trevor Hoffman Night Everyone He was The Player of The Game For us!!! 4 runs on 3 hits and a walk! Always Knew he was a bum waiting to happen and what a night for him to show it!Back atop of the Heap and all!
Go Blue 2007!!!!
We can all thank Bud Black for last nights win. Walking a washed up Gonzo to face Martin was ridiculous. We got lucky last night because of Blacks stupid move. I am a Ned fan, but I really don’t think management has a clue. This team could be really good with a few moves from management. Do we really need Martinez ,Valdez and Anderson on this team? To me they are the same player. Make a decision get rid of 2 of them and bring Kemp back. He could play center or left and wouldn’t be any worse out there than what we already have, at least he can throw. Also move Nomar or bring up Abreu, either one of these moves will be an improvement over what we have now. C’mon Ned ,lets really put the best team we can on the field, not the most expensive.
Also , either put Bills in the rotation instead of Tomko, or send him down and let him start ,that is what he does best. Don’t wait for Tomko to implode , you know it will happen sooner rather than later.
Fisher,
Are you kidding? Hendy was excellent in long relief, and did not usually come in with the game already lost…we hadn’t lost hardly any games that he played in before being moved to the rotation. Long relievers are crucial in an era when starters often do not go longer than 5-6 innings. Right now, Bills is our long-relief option, and he’s doing a poor job at it. Tell me you wouldn’t rather have had Hendy pitching 2 shutout innings in middle relief tonight than seeing Bills go in there. That would have kept the game at 1-1 and the 9th-inning heroics would have been unnecessary…
Don’t overlook middle relievers. Many games are won or lost on their performances – we got lucky that wasn’t the case last night.
We need Bills to start games i’d send him down to triple-A to get a fresh start & build his confidence back.
I agree about Billingsley. I really like him, and he has awesome potential, but the Bullpen just doesn’t seem the place for him. It’s getting to the point that I cringe when they pitch him in the middle of a game, hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. I really don’t want to see him go the route of Edwin Jackson.
Hey Pup I think the thin air is getting to you up there…Yes Hendy is excellent long relief but if you check the facts we were 0-3 in games he pitched in only one game were we even close in and seanez and beimel each gave up a run but we still never had the lead in that game.You have to take into account who is running the show and ….. well thats a differant can of worms and its too early to start that campain…. After schmidt gets back I’m sure he goes back to long relief til Tomko runs outta gas.
Also if Hendy is in the bullpen who would have started to have that 1-1 tie?
JP was Robbed!!!
Regarding tonights game, we have to stop swinging at first pitches. I know the popular consensus is that Pierre is not living up to what we had hoped, but I’m more frustrated with Furcal. Our lead off hitter swings for the fences on the first or second pitch almost every time.
Smart hitters would have made Maddux work harder.
Go Blue!!!
It ain’t over.
Think Josh abandoned us tonight…..
JP was our offence tonight and that play at second in the eighth showed his hand on the bag before the tag Wolf blew that call.
fisher quote “Think Josh abandoned us tonight…..”
I was just gonna say, i hope everything is o.k. with ’em he didn’t even leave the lineup for us. maybe he was just really really busy or something.
Martin can play third!!
Get Lieberthal some starts.
See what happens. It can’t get any worse.
Betemit *****!!
Unbelievable. In the latest LA times report, it says the Dodgers have discussed playing Liberthal occasionally at 3rd. This has gotten out of hand.
Abreu played 3rd again tonight if anything is in the works its to bring him up.Offence was totally flat again JP was doing everything tonight and Kent was driving him in.Otherwise it was just plain off Martin Hit 2 deep and without all the Heavy air 1 would have gone out.
Speaking of Martin How bout that unassisted Double Play reminds me of the Dodgers have 3 on base..Yeah Which base! That was a Great Play by both Tsao and Martin.
I still contend that JP was robbed on that call at 2nd and that laid us out. Was a well played game we came up short on hitting.Win it tomorrow and take the series with Fatman on the hill we can rake some offence.
I wouldn’t put too much into that Lieberthal at 3rd nonsense. It’s the same as saying Ramon Martinez is our emergency catcher, so in an absolute emergency Lieberthal could play third. There is Valdez, Martinez and Saenz to play third when Betemit does not. Lieberthal at third would be only if an 80’s Astro/Dodger marathon were to happen. So I personally think nothing of it.
just the fact that they’ve discussed is downright crazy, even if there’s very little chance of it happening. I’d rather see him pitch a couple of innings if it down to a marathon. Or see one of our pitchers in the outfield. Hilarity would ensue.
Liberthal would never play 3rd… can’t even get a pinch hit with only 2 catchers.That is just plain stupid reporting.The Dodgers would not bring up another catcher for Liberthal to play 3rd before 1st bringing up Abreu or 2nd switching Nomar to 3rd and bringing up Loney.I haven’t seen the article but if it is what you say JS it is bad journalism…….
unless the whole article on latimes.com was written in snark, its true, thats what they reported.
and the bloody sock was painted….I hate what some reporters resort to….
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-dodrep29apr29,1,2437480.story?coll=la-headlines-sports
C’mon an older reserve Catcher moving to 3rd base where he has never played while 3 utility players who can all play 3rd and hit better then the leauge avg. sit and watch? Not on this planet….
hmmm steve Hensen Staff writer…. So its on the Times website you give it credibility?I thought this community of Dodger Faithfuls had more intelligence that that….
Somebody Probably said something about Liberthal pinch hitting for betemit in the late inns and a reporter heard Liberthal is gonna play 3rd full time…. and it was not even going to come to that ab yet…
This talk about Lieberthal at 3rd is down right scary. What’s next ? I have an idea , how about putting Broxton at 3rd? We all know he can throw. Maybe they’ll want to put Bills in center, he can also throw. Come on Ned ,do the right thing, bring up Abreu and give him a shot , or as we’ve said many times before ,move Nomar to third and bring up Loney. Another option might be give Marlon Anderson a try .
I’m having trouble logging in to the main section of our blog for some reason this morning, so I can’t post a lineup for you. As for yesterday, I’m actually not in San Diego, so sorry to leave you all hanging. Lineups should return tomorrow when the team is back in L.A. and in the meantime, our thoughts and prayers are with the Cardinals and the family and friends of Josh Hancock.
Not to sound repetitive; But I
really appreciate those Photos
in The Gallery, by Jon SooHoo.
First Class, I must say….
Sounds crazy with Lowe on the hill but VS a LHP maybe we need to see the killer Tomato in the line up today at 3B.
It’s the same lineup as normal except sub Clark for Ethier batting 7th and Martinez is at third batting 8th. Clark is 2 for 5 against Wells, Martinez is 3 for 8 with a HR. Also, look out for Jose Cruz Jr. he’s been Lowe arch-nemesis in the past, going 12 for 33 with 4 HR’s.
This is REDICULOUS!!! How can Grady start Martin for a 6th straight game? That is just wrong. Come September we are going to pay for that. Ive never heard of a catcher starting a day game after a night game, after cathing 5 straight games (which alone is too much). Cat someone PLEASE talk some sense into him?!!!!
Haha. We should have had Lieberthal catching, and Martin playing 3rd, as he was drafted as a 3b. But seriously, what else is Grady going to do? Not alot of offense lately, Martin has been producing. Its a tough call, but Martin would be sitting if the rest of our offense was better.
I am getting more disgusted with every appearance that Lowe makes. This is supposed to be the staff “ace”? The other “ace” may very well be doing a Dreifort imitation for this club. It’s a good thing that Colletti really loaded up with pitching – not that he’s really in the position to trade off any of it. In the meantime Bills is in the bullpen trying to do something that he wasn’t trained for and wasting his talent.
If 3rd base remains a problem and they don’t want to move Nomar, how about putting Kent at 3rd? He played 3rd for the Mets. Then you call up Abreu to play second and the problem is solved for now.
Abreu could be a good fit at 3rd or 2nd, if he can prove himself at the major league level. I would like to see him given that chance right now.
oMzqqE ywscxjscgiao
With Yhency Brazoban making progress the way he is… it’d be safe to say that Rudy Seanez’s days are numbered.
Great job by the bullpen for only allowing one hit in 10.2 innings of relief today! Randy Wolf… if ever we needed eight innings out of a pitcher… that would be what we need tomorrow night.
Go Dodgers!!
I predict third base help to be coming real soon…
Wow Filegel I like that a lot. Why not put Kent at 3rd bases?
Martin played 17 innings today so he might get one tomorrow.
I was down in San Diego for the weekend, and went to today’s 17 inning marathon. Great game. As for the whole 3rd base issue, we used every relief pitcher and every position player–except Betemit. I know he had been sick the day before, but if you go 17 innings and don’t use a guy, what’s the point?
Lieberthal at 3rd cannot be an option because then there is no back-up catcher. Someone suggested an interesting idea of putting Kent at 3rd, but then Nomar could play 2d, and Loney play first. But the reality is that that is too complicated, and Kent is a nice solid second baseman, but not a 3B. Nomar, on the other hand is a tremendous ballplayer, and a great shortstop before he moved to first. He can play third, and he should. It’s really time to move. Everyone says that there are concerns about Nomar’s health, but while 3B is more demanding than first, it’s not like when he was a shortstop–that’s why Cal Ripken Jr. moved to third at the end of his career. Nomar should be able to be plenty healthy. It’s possible that Loney may not work out (I doubt it), but let’s give it a month. I bet the team does better than with Betemit’s .133. (BTW–Thinking of great players who moved to Third Base later in their career–anyone ever hear of one Jackie Robinson??? By the Dodgers World Championship season in 1955, Jackie started 84 games at 3B, as Jim (Junior) Gilliam got th most starts at second base (See Baseball Almanac). According to “The Last Good Season,” Jackie had been moved over to third because with his advancing age (he was 36), he had lost a step or two, and third base was easier on him than second.
Grady’s playing Russell a lot–but the kid LOVES playing, and he’s tremendous, so how can we take him out! But after 17 innings today, he has to give him tomorrow off.
****, our bullpen is so good, why don’t we just move everyone to the bullpen. Have 9 pitchers pitch an inning every game! The opposing team would be so confused as to what pitch and/or pitchers to expect!
Go Dodgers!
JOSH!!!
pass leekfink spiel’s onto Grady. Great, great points and i agree completely. Maybe it was Grady’s plan all along– to do it 30-40 games into the season… Lets just bring up Loney– Betemit is not the answer at third, neither is La Roche, but lets just play for this year.. Nomar should play 3 games a week at third, 2 at first, and sit out a night every week. Loney mans up at first and shows he had the right to run his mouth, and we let Martinez/Valdez/Olmado play third a couple nights a week.
leekfink, Kent did play 3rd for the Mets, and he did a fairly good job of it for a couple of years.
bear,
Lowe didnt really pitch that badly yesterday- they had some seeing eye grounders… nothing you can do about that.
Lowe carried the team last year down the stretch- and was very good in a horrid 2005 year also… he will be fine. Give him a break. The guys is not a dominating ace, but he is very very solid.
He will have 15+ wins when its all over with this year- and may very well be our best starter, again. Dont panic in April.
>
Wrong — LaRoche isn’t ready YET, but will be the ‘answer’ from 2008 forward. He got off to a slow start last year in Jacksonville, too, then caught fire in June. That seems to be his career pattern in the minors.
It doesn’t make sense to ignore him as an option at 3rd base in the future just because he didn’t play well in SPRING TRAINING.
can someone tell me why in the heck grady is so respectful of juan pierre? i mean come on guys, if joe torre can move arod to the number 8 hole, i would think it would be no big deal to put juan out there. i really think that would help our TEAM out significantly.
I completely agree- Im not a Pierre hater like many, but i think in this line up he belongs at 7th. 8th might not be as good b/c then your having the pitcher sacrafice alot when he could just steal. Also, with a pitcher hitting youre also going to be playing the pitch out game alot…
Either way, 2nd isn’t the best place, IMO.
Kemp needs to play too. CF/RF… where ever, he looks ready to go.
Graffiti, I couldn’t disagree more. On this team JP is best suited in the #2 hole. Note the stats, he’s gone from a .180 hitter to .288 in just a little more than a week. He makes things happen and that is exactly what we want in the #1 and #2 hole. We ask so much from this guy that it only figures he’s going to push the envelop and only succeed part of the time. The LA Times said it well today; SD and LA are two very similar teams, deep on pitching and short on long ball. With that fact we need guys that challenge the other aspects of the game. JP has the tools to make small ball work for us over the long term.
BTW, did everyone read Sarah’s last article?? It makes sense!!! Wilson Valdez at 3B is the better choice given what we have available to us. Although, Ramon played a great 3B yesterday!! I know he had an error, but not until he made a number of solid assists. And that ball was cleanly picked up; it wasn’t until he was trying to make the throw that he mishandled the ball. Bottom line Betemit is running out of time to turn it around and we only have so much available to fill in. My guess is Betemit goes down or away by mid May or early June, and Loney comes up to spell Nomar and play OF. Wilson and Ramon can platoon at 3B until one of them either runs away with the job or loses it.
Go Dodgers
graffitigenius – “can someone tell me why in the heck grady is so respectful of juan pierre?”
drj884 – “Im not a Pierre hater like many, but i think in this line up he belongs at 7th.”
I mean no disrespect to you guys whatsoever, but are you guys aware that Juan Pierre is leading the Dodgers in hits with 31 (tied with Nomar)?
Every day I come onto this blog and find people ripping JP a new one. I certainly will not dispute the fact that he has a very weak arm, but the guy is getting hits. During the last home stand I watched him hit the ball extremely hard, but right at them, otherwise he’s have even more hits. He is also 2nd in the NL in stolen bases, only 4 behind Jose Reyes.
It is very obvious that you guys want Kemp and some of the other kids up with the big club, but the guys we have (including Pierre) are getting it done (with the exception of Betemit, of course).
GO DODGERS!
I think some people (myself included) just have a probem with JP in the #2 slot because it is thought to be a good spot for a high obp guy, which Pierre is not. In fact, a lot of #2 slots work well with someone with some pop and speed. I think Kemp would be pefect for a #2, and remember how well martin worked in the 2 hole, but I can dream on cause thats not happening. I doubt the top 4 slots in the lineup will change unless something drastic happens… the bottom 4 are still up for debate i suppose.
Kemp, needs to stay down with LaRoche and gain more experience. And to that point I think Billingsly needs to do the same. The big league team is not a proving ground, it’s where the big boys play. If we keep using the 25 man roster for every rookie to prove himself we’re going to end up a second rate team. And I for one think Ned handles this extremely well !! To have 3, 4 or 5 rookies on the major league roster at one time has a very high potential for failure. Many of us agreed that this team will need to exercise the 40 man roster throughout the year. We currently have 3 pitchers with less then a full year under their belt and then you throw in Martin and Ethier and you have 5 guy on the 25 man roster today !!! To bring in more inexperience is extremely risky !! Betemit is about the only guy that seems expendable and his job is one where we don’t have a good alternative in the system YET !!! I said it earlier Wilson and Ramon platoon at 3B and Loney comes up Bills goes down, to learn how to start again and Brazoban returns.
Go Dodgers !!!
and we also saw how well that 1,2 furcal lofton thing worked against the mets in last years playoffs. if our top 2 guys are struggling, and our bottom guys are struggling, what are kent nomar and gonzo do? i dont know what it is but it just seems pierre is stagnating our offense. i think we have better candidates in the two hole, starting with martin. if kemp keeps it up, why not.
fliegel–I did not mean that Kent can’t play 3B, or that he hasn’t. My point is just that Kent’s basically an OK defender, and does well enough at second base. That’s fine, because we pay him to be a great hitter, and he is. Nomar, on the other hand, is an excellent defensive player anywhere on the diamond. So that’s the move that makes sense.
Alot of concern still with JP. Looking at the numbers, though, he’s clearly doing well. But I admit to frustrations. Friday night, they walked Furcal on 4 pitches to load the bases, and JP came up first pitch swinging. There are so many reasons this is wrong (take the walk and the run, work the count and hope for a wild pitch, tire out the starter). On Sunday, he got to first in the 9th (I think–the game blended together) and with Nomar up he did not steal–did not even take a very big lead. This has happened a couple of times. The whole offense is built on the concept of getting Furcal or Pierre to second with Nomar up, and then letting Kent and Gonzo drive in Nomar. And we really needed one run. But overall, he’s doing pretty well.
It looks to me like Kemp is ready now. I think thats worse news for Ethier than Pierre, but either way he is coming up soon and is going to play. As he should. Ceiling is too high to sit. He’ll be a regular by the end of May as long is the shoulder is fine. I noticed they DHd him yesterday which makes me wonder.
alot of rookies on one team has the potential for failure, but plenty of teams have done pretty well recently using the MLB level as a proving groung regardless (’05 braves come to mind). Our roster is not ‘overloaded’ with young players by any means ad wouldn’t be if Kemp comes up either. Furthermore, I could understand not using Bills in the rotation, Kemp in LF, or whatever else IF they were blocked by studs, but they’re not. They’re blocked by serviceable players (tomko, hendy, gonzo) who will do an adequate job. In that case, the argument can be made both ways—let high ceiling young players have a crack at it, or let serviceable players do what they do, with no chance for upside.
yet, if current performances of the serviceable players have been as good as they have been, why mess around?
give me the high ceiling young player, when it comes to bills over tomko. what the heck kind of pitch is bills throwing in the mid to high 80’s that looks like a fastball but just drops out. its not a split, is it a really wicked power curve? that thing is nasty.
kemp needs to be in the mix fast also…im hoping for an impression of his first 15 games or so all season. our lineup could use some pop fast. still cant believe gonzo killing the leftys.
“dont know what it is but it just seems pierre is stagnating our offense.”
graffiti, don’t you think that perhaps Furcal is a big reason the offense is sputtering? He’s struggling with his approach even more than JP was to start the season. He’s not working a lot of counts, not seeing the ball well, either. I think once Furcal starts producing, this offense lights it up.
That is exactly right puppyhead. Once Furcal gets rolling, and he will get rolling, the other stuff will fall into place.
Go Dodgers !!!
even #100, sorry i just had to do that.