Today's lineup
LaRoche is in the starting lineup on his first day in the bigs. So is Lieberthal, who obviously knows Wolf pretty well from their Philly days and has a good track record against today’s starter, Kyle Davies:
Furcal, SS
Pierre, CF
Garciaparra, 1B
Kent, 2B
Gonzalez, LF
LaRoche, 3B
Ethier, RF
Lieberthal, C
Wolf, P
Inside the Dodgers 
Well…some of you are getting your wish. I had been for patience with Betemit, but Friday nights game was indeed an eye opener. I can’t imagine bringing up La Roche to sit on the bench, so here’s hoping he tears them up.
I still would not give up completely on Betemit. That dinger last night must mean something.
LaRoche!
Hopefully this is the start of a great run. Best of luck, kid!
I think it’s a step in the right direction. He wasn’t tearing it up in triple A, but I doubt he’s worse than Betemit. Good luck kid try to relax and have a good game. Lets hope Kemp is next and takes the place of one of our two outfielders who can’t throw.
Should be fun to see how LaRoche does. It’ll be nice to have someone with a fresh start and fresh outlook, even if he doesn’t hit .300. And if he really *****, in 2 or 3 weeks Abreu replaces him. Could be worse – depth in the farm is so crucial.
hopefully laroche pulls a russell martin and just forces the issue.
Glad to see LaRoche in the lineup and hope we get to see Kemp and Abreu in the next few months… just curious though, what’s been going on with Larry Bigbie and does he even have a shot of getting some time with the Dodgers??
thanks ned. make us proud andy.
🙂
although he is not a legit prospect!! He’s a scrub. His MLB numbers prove that….oh wait.
hahah lol.
Okay… for all of you who’ve been calling for this move… here’s LaRoche’s dream shot! I don’t think he’s ready yet, but I truly hope he catches fire like Ethier and Martin did last year. Make sure they don’t ever take third base away from you ever again Andy. Just do what we all know you can do and don’t try to do too much in the process.
Good luck Andy!
Go Dodgers!!
Well Ray here’s another one of your kids !! Go get’em Andy, here’s your big league chance !! Make the best of it, you may never see it again as a Dodger. Hate to see Marlon go on the DL but it sounds like it was the right move.
Go Dodgers !!!
Hi Gary. Real bonus for me. All three games with the Braves have been televised on TBS. I for one think LaRoche isn’t ready. However, I love Ray’s kids and really hope LaRoche makes an impact. Gotta add one kid at a time. That’s how the Braves do it. Good start with his double. Go Andy!! Go Dodgers!!
Another RBI opportunity for Pierre…another lazy fly ball to left.
Pierre – the always reliable rally killer!
I try never to complain about the roster since things seem to always work out quite well. Not looking to build Rome in a day. However, I must say I am a bit disappointed in Pierre. I am not speaking just about his performance. From watching these games it seems he is perhaps not really a game alert, game wise player. What he does doesn’t quite seem to fit the situation well. Perhaps he will heat up after a while. Hope so. We need more in the two slot. Gotta love Wolf going hard into second. That’s game alert. Go Dodgers!!
Thank God for Andy LaRoche. The era of Betermit may be coming to an end!
Way to go Rudy. elkim – not sure what happened but Betemit is definitely better than he has shown. Might have to regroup with another team.
Confidence is everything especially in baseball. Go Dodgers!!
Hey Harold, change is coming. Ned has to be working the phones now. With Kuo and Brazoban now on the Las Vegas active roster, Kemp ( hitting 310) and Loney in wait Ned has guys to deal with.
Alright a rally killing DP by the Dodgers !!
2-1 in the 7th, tight game, you gotta love it !!
Go Ned !!
Go Dodgers !!
elkim- here comes Betemit.
You are right Gary. Can’t keep them all. Somehow I have always felt Loney was not big on the Dodgers depth chart. How about Betemit?
Betemit seems to have a good swing.
Wow Betemit may have found his calling, off the bench !!! Another pinch hit HR !! Maybe this will change Sarah’s opinion about our power !!
Go Ned !!
Go Dodgers !!
platoon at 3b alert!
Grady might want to change his steal sign !! The Braves read that one all the way !!!
Go Ned !!
Go Dodgers !!
Tsao, this should be good !!
Platoon never seems to work well with young players trying to get established. I think they need to play regularly in a variety of situations. I am concerned about the lack of production at 3B not only because we need it, but because the temptation will be to trade for a 3B and give up kids to get him. Go Dodgers!!
I agree Harold, it’s all up to LaRoche. If he can settle down the 3B spot Ned can do a lot more for us on the trade front.
Wow Tsao is getting roughed up. Bad time to lose his streak !!
Go Ned !!
Go Dodgers !!
wow. who would have thought coming into today. betemit homered and tsao got roughed up. when will relievers learn to not walk the leadoff guy. always kills us.
Doesn’t take long for a game to get out of control. Go Dodgers!!
Gotta hate that!!
shoudda brought in beimel to face thorman…
Roger Clemens going to play for Yankees!!
Jeez, you figure Tsao would give up a few runs eventually but not 3 in one inning…
Harold, where Pettitte goes Clemens goes !!!
Finally, we’re out of the 7th. That was ugly !!
Go Dodgers !!
Yes Gary – two peas in a pod. That was really ugly. Leadoff walk is a killer. Still not sure Billingsley is comfortable as a reliever. Let’s get a runner on and pinch hit Russell Martin. Go Dodgers!!
Bill’s still needs to learn how to get ahead of the hitters
He gets ahead of Jones 1&2 and walks him. He still doesn’t trust his stuff !!
OK, it’s time to get this bus rolling !!
Well, we let that one get away. Tomorrow’s another day !!
Have a great night Harold !!
Go Ned !!
Go Dodgers !!
Oh well. Get ’em in Florida tomorrow. Go Dodgers!!
You too Gary. Go Dodgers!!
This game certainly falls into the “one that got away” category.
Nothing to do but regroup and get ’em tomorrow.
I’m going to suggest something radical here. I would like to see Loney and Abreu up here as well, playing first and second respectively. This is a year when both Nomar and Kent are going to underperform. Kent is unable to field adequately, and I hope that we don’t pick up his option year for 2008. Both veteran players should just be there to support the youngsters the rest of the year and then retire or join up somewhere else.
Tomko should get no more than another two starts – either he picks up the pace, or gets traded or goes back to the long reliever role. Bills should get the fifth starting position – if he needs to go back to Vegas for a couple of weeks to work on being a starter again, then let’s do that.
Kemp should come up before the end of May and take over in center field. Pierre is an embarassment, and he should be on the trading block.
I’m sure that the management won’t make any of these moves, but I think our team would be better for it both this season and certainly next season.
kent looks like a statue out there…. with laroche up maybe betemit should get some time at 2nd versus right handers.
Sad Day – Hard loss to accept.
0 for 14 from top 4 hitters. Our so-called money players.
Pathetic Pierre & bumbling Kent looking expecially bad.
As ususal Grady leaves his pitcher in too long..
How about LaRoche & Betemit -Some difficult decisions will need to be made..
Good Luck in Flordia..
Go Dodgers !!!
Message Bear :
What you say certainly has alot of merit — But we all know it will never happen with Grady & Ned pulling the stings.. They are simply not that far sighted.. Also not willing to admit there mistakes.. Also the $$$ being paid out controls there attitudes & judgment.. How Sad
The idea of replacing Kent (the Ds best hitter) with Abreu (a guy with a handfull of games > the A level) is down right rediculous. I know the feeling here is always that the younger players can do no rong, but all the misinformation flying around is getting pretty silly. Frustrating loss today for sure.
That was a depressing loss. Painful to watch.
Why replace two of your most productive players with prospects? I can understand replacing gonzo, or JP, or any 3b player so far, but why are you now calling for Kent’s and Nomar’s job, messagebear? I agree with drj884, it’s kind of ridiculous to think that every AAA player we bring up will outperform the current players.
Our team would be a lot worse this season if they replaced every veteran with a rookie. Make the kids win the jobs. I fully agree with that strategy.
Dear Grady Little,
Your handling of the late innings ******. You had no idea what you were doing leaving Tsao in there, and Billingsley was not the guy to bring in – Beimel was. Further, using Martin to pinch hit for Ethier was stupid – Martin should have pinch hit for Lieberthal. You showed yourself to be a competent manager last year (we’ll just forget about Julio Lugo); what happened?
You will restore my confidence in you if you run the following lineup tomorrow:
SS – Furcal
C – Martin
1B – Nomar
2B – Kent
LF – Gonzalez
3B – LaRoche
RF – Ethier
CF – Pierre
Thank you.
Sincerely,
You would always be right if you managed after the game is over. And it’s simple Tsao and Billingsley didn’t get the job done today. Case closed onto Florida…
Billngsley should be a starter. He’s obviously not comfortable in relief which i don’t blame him since he’s never been a reliever not even in the minors.
LaRoche looked good in Dodger blue.
i just watched the game. Pierre is killing us really. Grady be smart and make a move.
i didnt want the game live today so im watching a taped one and giving my comments now.
The top of the lineup needs to be shaken up. Nomar needs a day off and Kent should be moved down a spot or two.
If i was grady my lineup tomorrow would be…
Furcal
Martin
Ethier
Gonzo (ouch but eh)
Kent
Clark
La Roche
Martinez (1st base)
shake some caca up Grady! Thats all you did last year! and now you are sticking with slumping players. Pull the head out man!
Painful loss. I can’t even think about it. And it happened in the place that I never suspected–the ‘pen.
Losing 2 of 3 to Atlanta in Atlanta is not bad, but we could have won. Have to win 3 of 4 in Florida. We’re coming up on some teams we need to beat up on.
I was very glad to see LaRoche get the call. Maybe Betemit can get his swing back off the bench (anyone see him and Ramon Martinez share a look back on the bench after Betemit hit his homer–it was like he was saying “now I get it going.”) LaRoche should have a month, and if he does not work out, maybe Betemit will have gotten it going or maybe we go to Option C.
Here’s the thing–I don’t understand what we have in mind for Nomar and Loney. Loney is not hitting great in AAA right now, but he’s doing better than he was, and everyone thinks that he’s a little down. But he’s hitting better than LaRoche, and of course his numbers last year at AAA and the majors were great, and his Spring was astounding–and it was all better than LaRoche. So it’s not as if he’s not getting the call because LaRoche is outplaying him. Loney’s clearly ready–more ready than LaRoche. But if we’re not willing to move Nomar, are we going to just have Loney at AAA for the next two years. Or more, because Nomar may have even more left in him past 2009. If we’re not willing to move Nomar over to 3B, are we willing to move Nomar over to 2B if Kent is hurt or if his contract expires and he retires at the end of the year? I don’t know that even with the shorter throw, second base is less physically taxing–with guys sliding hard to break up the double-play, etc., and more ground balls to the middle infield–and Abreu may be ready when Kent hangs it up. But is this the plan? And trading him could prove to be one of the all-time mistakes (on a Pedro Martinez-like level).
Matt Kemp is probably has the most potential of any our young players (even Martin). But if there is anyone in the minors that I would want to see on the big league roster is James Loney. I just don’t know anyone who has proven they are ready more than that kid.
So seriously, what do we plan to do with him?
Betemit now has as many home runs as either Kent or Nomar. Scary thought, No? That’s my point. Both Kent and Nomar are in the declining phase of their careers, like it or not. They may be as close to batting .300 now as they will ever be again. At this point Loney is blocked, and Abreu could already be as big a contributor as Kent is, particularly on the fielding level (in the case of Kent, that is). Without a chance at the big leagues for another year or two, Loney is likely to regress instead of progressing at the big league level. He and Abreu could both be up and playing regularly two or three games a week and showing if they can now do it at the big league level – and they could substitute defensively in the later innings. Kent and Nomar could be rested and should be tutoring the young guys – that’s how teams are developed for the future. Of course, that might interfere with their egos. Just look at the Milwaukee Brewers now – their crop of youngsters is producing, and they’re not depending on three guys in the middle of their lineup that are in the decline.
depending on kent and nomar is the baseball equivalent of feeling secure living in a village at the base of a volcano because you have volcano insurance.not star middle of the order guys, were talking some ok protectors that put up some good numbers behind and in front of good players. ala manny ramirez and barry bonds.oh yeah and i still gotta throw this out there because it hurts me so much…….willie harris=poor mans( john schuerholz ) juan pierre. hate to say it guys but we might have to chalk it up as a loss and finally come to terms with ourselves but juan pierre might have been the worst most devastating contract since darren dreifort.
our outfield should be called the juan pierre louisiana log jam.
I don’t think yesterday’s game was that hurtful of a loss i mean all losses hurt but we had a decent offensive game (Betemit showing he can hit but just not as a starter lol also LaRouche stroking a couple one being robbed of a hit) and an pretty good outing from Wolf (untill he ran out of gas) but the our bullpen has been lights out and they fell apart id say for the first time this season with a month behind us already id say that is pretty good. I also def think that LaRouche earned a couple starts at 3rd which i now was the plan but i think we all were kind of skeptical on his arrival. Lets get in the boat and go catch us some Marlin! Good Luck tonite Penny! GO DODGERS!
Im not giving up on Nomar. I mean before he started his string of injuries a few years ago he was on pace to be a hall of famer. So he has the skill obviously. I’ll give me a couple more weeks and if he still isn’t playing like Nomar that would lead me to believe he’s hurt.
I think the game is starting to pass Kent by. He’s still got the fire to play but i think age as caught up to him.
Yes, let’s not forget that 10 months ago, Nomar was batting around .350 at the All-Star Break. He’ll be fine if he stays healthy – I can almost guarantee that his average will go up from where it’s at.