Tonight's game
Furcal, SS
Pierre, CF
Nomar, 1B
Kent, 2B
Gonzo, LF
Martin, C
Ethier, RF
LaRoche, 3B
Penny, P
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Furcal, SS
Pierre, CF
Nomar, 1B
Kent, 2B
Gonzo, LF
Martin, C
Ethier, RF
LaRoche, 3B
Penny, P
Inside the Dodgers 
I’d rather have LaRoche hitting .215 the rest of the year than Betemit doing anything other than pinch hitting.
He’s cheap, has flashes of brilliance, and his first name is…
Wilsooooooon!
I like this lineup, penny is gonna pitch a gem tonight. go LaRoche!
That’s the strongest lineup the Dodgers have fielded in a long time.
Except that now im even more nervous every inning when the dodgers take the field, and i was too **** nervous already…
switch martin with Pierre and then La Roche with Pierre and it will be the best lineup they’ve had all year long.
I hereby second Max’s motion for a change in the batting order.
Yes, Martin should bat second for the foreseeable future with Pierre batting eighth.
I third it. our 3 hole hitter is slugging .381 with a .333 OBP so maybe removing an automatic out in front of him well help.
Our 3,4,5 hitters have not been doing much since April 21.
I now feel more confident with our 6-9 hitters. that is just not right.
seriously…our two best hitters are hitting 6th and 7th right now.
its kind of funny the way the lineup is set up: two lead off hitters who aren’t getting on, three old guys, and three young guys.
I believe Martin should be moved up ahead of Gonzo to #5, Pierre needs to stay where he is because if he’s moved to the eight spot when he gets on he’s followed by the pitcher who is actually an automatic out. With less than 2 outs they’ll sacrifice him over to second which he’s capable of doing on his own with a stolen base. In turn when there’s two outs and he gets on they’ll get the pitcher out and Pierre on base is completely wasted. The best value out of Pierre is either the leadoff or 2nd position. He gets on, he moves over and gets knocked in. He has a better opportunity of doing that from #2 than from #8. I know some of you disagree with Pierre at #2 and I completely understand your frustration, but he needs to stay there.
Another alternative is to drop Furcal to #6 and move Martin to #2 with Pierre leading off.
Brad Penny pitching against his old team should be fun to watch, I like our chances.
i 5th the pierre 8th motion. i like the subtle approach max. you have to mix it in later in the post, or you will be called out by the powers that be. bottom line pierre needs to bat 8th no ifs ands buts about it. we were scoring a decent amount of runs with furcal out and martin at the 2 spot so why cant we do that now. because neds too proud to pay an 8 guy 9 million a year for four more years. when do we draw the line, pierre is hurting us in the 2 spot and will continue to post that sentiment until proven otherwise. give our best hitters more ab’s to succeed not the guy that leads the league in worthless outs and if it was a stat killed rallys. pierre is gonna force furcal out more times than not, and hes looked pretty shaky thus far in alot of important aspects of the game.
I like Pierre hitting 8th and Martin hitting 2nd since it gives A) Pierre less AB’s and B)has a good hit and run hitter behind Furcal setting up 1st and 3rd opportunities for Nomar as well as Martin hits a decent amount of doubles with his speed. Pierre hits the ball in the air too much for me.
its not about frustration alex its about the number 2 spot being a key spot for our lineup and juan is not really cutting it. in so many ways without sounding like a baby, the juan pierre signing was just a wrench thrown into what looked like a promising season. the negatives for him are far outweighing the positives. alex look at the braves lineup, im not modeling ours after the braves but why cant you agree that juan pierre is basically wille harris and needs to bat 8. the braves bat renteria 2nd for the same reason we should bat martin 2nd. add it up.
Because if I agreed this wouldn’t be a fun blog. Willie Harris? WILLIE HARRIS???
Alex, you’re right. Pierre would be useless to us at 8. But ya know what he’s useless right now to us in the second spot. The 8th spot is where he’ll do less damage to our offense.
On the days Wolf pitches I’d bat Pierre 9th. Not even joking.
I’m starting to think
Pierre
Martin
Nomar
Kent
Gonzo
Furcal
Ethier
LaRoche
looks pretty good
And I am very happy that you guys are not the GM or even the manager.
Ned & Gordy are doing very well and I’m delighted we are in first place.
Yes, I wish Pierre had a better arm and wasn’t getting a bad jump on balls, but it’ll all come around.
LaRoche or Betemit? Heck, I don’t know and only time will tell. As for the rest of the quys in the system….I’d rather have good guys in the pipeline being held back then needing guys and not having anyone in the system.
I’m sure we will be trading for a long ball hitter before the All Star break and then we’ll see whose left in the minors that we can use.
so will pierre go for the getting picked off at 1st trifecta today?
in all seriousness, i think i remember furcal being dropped in the lineup when he was struggling. the problem with dropping pierre is its not going to get much better than this for him anyways. he’s not struggling. this is what he he does.
I dont know how i really feel about the whole Pierre thing its just so darn hard to judge! Although i do believe we would have more opportunities to score runs if Martin was batting 2nd but then that means Furcal has to carry his wait as well with getting on base which he has not been doing very often (lets not just focus on one player here!) I think thats a big reason why Grady has not yet done anything about the situation?! But then once Furcal can start getting on base in a consistant matter then i would no doubt want Martin hitting 2 to bring him in if not move him over because if Pierre is still hitting 2 while Furcal gets hot then well we all know what would happen (double play or pop out with Furcal still on 1st) Its tough to judge but i trust Grady and Ned with the team! Go DODGERS!!!
Good luck tonite Brad!
yeah juan pierre isnt gonna turn into david delucci ( ideal 2 guy for us ). he just gets out to much to be at the top id rather have martin getting those extra ab’s. who wouldnt? all of about 5 people on this blog. and yeah another striking differance between juan pierre and willie harris, wille harris wears the college style double ear protector and juan only wears one. other than that they are about the same, juan pierre might have him beat in the hard worker first guy at the ballpark category but they are pretty similar.
delucci as a 2 hitting centerfielder.*
I just don’t get it. Why is Pierre getting all the blame? Furcal is hitting .076 points worse, has a .011 worse OBA and really hasn’t gotten going at all. If you’re all going to say OBA, well then go look at the stats, our team has an atrocious OBA. Nomar’s OBA .333 Eithier’s .323, really only Martin, Kent and LuGo have acceptable #s there. Meanwhile Pierre leads our team in hits by 3, runs by 2, and stolen bases by 7. I agree that his defense has been bad but I think we need to start worrying about others more than Pierre offensively.
Why not just trade Pierre. Everyone is trying to find a place for him to bat, why not have him bat on another team. After 100 AB’s he doesn’t seem to be the type of player that we really need right now.
no one would trade for Juan Pierre. And if someone did we’d have to pay at least 90% of the salary.
Charris as you can see in my entry i also stated (lets not just focus on one guy here!) as a team our AVG with runners in scoring position is terrible to say the least. Like i said earlier if Furcal starts to heat up then we should re-evaluate our situation with the 2 spot but as of now we need Martin where he is to back up our slumping middle of the lineup guys and Pierre up at 2 because if Furcal cant get it done then we need Pierre even if he has 2-3 or 3-4 games every now and again! Like i said i trust our office and grady to make the right decisions! Also i have been reading some posts from a couple days ago and they were mad that Grady stuck with Tsao and then went to Bills? I cannot believe they thought that was a bad move Tsao (lights out) has been awesome and Bills has been carrying his wait (somewhat) but collectively our bullpen has been on fire why wouldnt you put your trust in them. I would say we had a definate problem if he would have left Wolf in longer to stay away form the pen!
Two things…one our starting lineup has one guy with a batting average over .300 (Martin) also Willie Harris is batting second tonight for Atlanta (that’s just funny). If Pierre were really our only offensive issue at the moment we’d have a better record than Milwaukee winning games. Fact is he’s not, so Pierre moving to 8th or whereever else has nothing to do with the rest of the team batting no better than .296 sans Martin. So even with all those ‘issues’ everyone else in the N.L West is still looking up at us. Oh no! Go Dodgers!
*take out ‘winning games’ from previous post
you cant tell me that you would rather have pierre batting second when furcal heats up like we all know he will. furcal is following his pattern from last year and some others, i dont think hes a carrer slow starter but we know that martin is a better hitter than pierre and hes more suited for that spot in the lineup. im not singling out guys im singling out lineup spots. ive always rooted for JP but hes hurting us in that spot. bottom of the ninth bases loaded 2 outs who do you want getting a 5th plate appearance martin or pierre. yeah thats hypothetical but it speaks volumes. im trying to simplify things here, dont take me as a jp hater. it was just an all around bad signing for the dodgers. bad money bad timing bad length just bad.
Here is a great reason to not bat Pierre in the 2 hole and it’s not ripping on Pierre, in fact it’s in order to get the best out of HIS ability.
it’s worth pointing out that hitting in front of Nomar is about the worst possible spot for a SB. Nomar swings at the first pitch nearly every time, and ends the AB as often as not right there.
When is a basestealer supposed to go?
that is funny willie is batting 2nd. now schuerholz is really gonna stick it to ned. we wont be in first much longer scoring something like 6 runs in 49 innings. you guys have to look a little deeper. may is typically san diego’s hot month, so if we cant stay afloat right now we might get left in the dust. any updates on schmidt anyone? not feeling to good about the offseason lately,
Good lineup.
If I moved JP at all it would be as max said, to 9th, and let him stay there until he comes around. More than that, I’d go to work on his defense, which I think is a bigger problem.
I’d like to come out in support of Little. Yesterday’s loss was hard to digest, but why would you not hang in there with Tsao? He had not been scored on to that point. I think he was trying to show confidence in the guy and let him work out of a jam. Of course it didn’t work, but hind sight etc.
betemit walkoff homer tonight??
in florida!!
Pierre isn’t the only problem but Pierre is the only problem that isn’t slumping. We’ll be much better when Furcal comes around which he will.
Pierre doesnt make us any better though. If anything he’ll cost us more runs then he’ll create.
we got a better chance of that happening than juan pierre moving anywhere.
I would just love for everyone to stop calling this a horrible signing until at least the season is over. It’s just ridiculous to call this signing a bust in May. And obviously we’d all prefer Martin over Pierre in that situation because they’re two completely different players and Martin is in his own world. We could talk about Martin for hours and how great he is for this team. Also, you can’t hide a player in the lineup. It doesn’t matter where you put him he’s going to be in a clutch situation and he’s going to either deliver or he won’t. All that matters is to accentuate the positives that Pierre possesses he needs to be in the #2 spot.
Alex, if you looked at Pierre’s numbers that last 3 years and put them up against the money he’s making and the number of years the contract is for the deal was a bust the second he signed it.
Pierre’s deal was a bust when he signed it last summer. I didn’t need to watch him as a Dodger to know he was going to hurt more than help. The guy is what he is.
exactly alex you proved my point. your saying he can only be good in the 2 spot, thats not good. if hes penciled in as our 2 guy for the next five years because thats the best spot for
HIM, thats a sad day for dodger fans. this is gonna get uglier especially if he keeps trying to make fake diving catches to impress fans when he didnt even have to dive. im all for defensive guys like alex cora but show me some defense.
I proved your point by saying he’s a leadoff hitter? Ok there…oh and you mean like what Ethier did in L.A?
boy are the angels looking good with gary matthews for that money. now that guy can go get it in center, but ned’s known his dad too long so he didnt want to get him based on his breakout year. but he could go off a few ok seasons with juan and a bunch of mediocre ones. what reasoning.
Im with you Alex i dont think we should say its a fluke just yet(although i think the amount of years was a little extreme but…) i mean after all we all did the same thing when we signed Nomar (be it was for 1 year) but the guy was a walking DL lister but look what we got out of that a hitting machine! We need to just see how it all plays out. Who knows we may be saying at the end of the year we needed Pierre in our lineup this year!
now you just compared diving catches, between a RF and a CF ?? all i know is if he can only bat second for us, what flexibility he brings for 5 years 50 mil. juan tried to win some fans over with that joke of a diving catch. ethier is still young, juan is old and knows better.
thatta boy jeff.
ummm im pretty sure Matthews has more errors than Pierre! and also hitting a couple points higher than pierre as well with less runs scored and less stolen bases. i dont know about you but i know who i would rather have on my team! PIERRE! Nice bomb Kent!
That was a nice easy classic Kent HR stroke, good to see it again.
Hey now we have 2 players hitting .300+ in our lineup tonite! lol
yeah that was vintage kent. martin is so perfect for the 2 spot.
Good to see we finally have a third baseman that can hit a sac fly.
hahaahahahaha. lol
Man Penny must really like pitching in front of only 400 people
hahahahah that was hilarious Alex!
4 k’s baby!
nice 5 k’s baby! We better get him the win tonite! He deserves to be 6-0!
Nomar should be sitting on the bench and giving Loney a chance.
The 1-2-3 hitters simply aren’t performing. Grady seriously needs to mix things up.
Bottom 2nd: Florida
– M. Jacobs struck out swinging
– J. Willingham struck out swinging
– J. Borchard struck out swinging
That was truly awesome.
GO DODGERS!!!
Penny is on fire. He might set a career high for Ks.
truthfullyid rather see him rack up the ground and pop outs rather than the K’s (and just pray that our defense holds up) because with all these strikeouts he already at 40 pitches thrown, on pace to prolly only go 7 innings!
Go Penny !!!
I’d like to replace all of the dodgers over the age of 30 with our kids. We would be a little worse this year, but way better in the future. If Ned didnt give 130 million dollars to older players (Pierre, Schmidt, Nomar, Gonzo) we could have used that money for a real legit young star to help build the team around along with our homegrown players.
Loney could give us what Nomar gives us (aside from some cluth hits, but then again u never know if you dont get the opportunity) seriously loney could be hitting .280 with 1 HR and a .325 OBP for 9 mill less than Nomar and play a better 1b. Same can be said for Kemp vs Gonzo or Pierre
7 K’s in 9 batters…pretty much speaks for itself. Just so long as it doesn’t turn him back into a thrower instead of a pitcher. But for one game, this is fun to watch!
season high for penny already in the 4th.
just imagine if just one or two of the top 3 were being productive. wow 4 through 8 is looking okay without betemit if we make the old switch i wont referance today. ill wait for tommorow i guess….go dodgers.
AND THIS LADIES AND GENTLEMAN IS THE DODGERS FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS!!!
referance again today.* excuse me.
Man i must say im liking the move to bring up LaRouche! I just fell in love with this lineup i just wish we would get a couple more hits with the 1-2-3 hitters!
except 1-3 alex. could it be the elusive CG for brad penny today. we shall see.
Jp i love you but why!!
like i said graffiti he needs more ground and pop outs early in the count to stay alive for 9!
Ok party pooper 😛
I have not had a problem with the Pierre signing. It may not rank as the best move, but he brings a lot of potential. And even if the contract seems like much, there were contracts which were made as questionable or worse this year.
But, I am concerned with Pierre for two reasons: 1) his lowest OBP is .326, but he’s only at .312. That’s a non inconsiderable drop-off from his .349 career OBP. Probably enough of a difference that if he were doing that, the complaints here would be muted.
Now, a player can slump and improve, and that happens over a 162 game season. My concern is this: he already has 13 strikeouts (counting one today). His career high is 52 strikeouts in 152 games in Colorado in 2002. He is on pace to strikeout 65 times–that’s way more than the 38 times he struck out last year. His key is making contact. If he were doing his career average, I would be happy, and I think most people would at least be satisfied.
Pierre should hit first, second, or eighth. Jungar is right that second is not good for him because of Nomar. Furcal could hit second, because he has more pop and could drive runners in. (Furcal could also hit third, but there are too many guys for that slot. The idea of him hitting 6th is crazy talk.)
I’m loving the LaRoche era so far.
You calling me crazy Mr. Link Fink? How dare you sir
How dare I it’s Mr. Leek Fink excuse me. And I don’t want any lineup changes for now, Furcal at 6th at least doesn’t take away Furcal’s strengths as much as Pierre to 8th would, but I don’t want that either.
Gosh when does the move Martin to the 3 hole chant start. That kid is our best all around player. For all of you loving LaRoche thats what I am talking about. Let us love Loney and Kemp too. We will..just trust us.
10 K’s thru 4 WOW!!!
did big brad think tonight was the allstar game or something?
the strike outs are great but im concerned he’s throwing nothing but fastballs
Fastballs usually aren’t the pitches that hurt pitchers
12 K’s through 5…Just so you know the facts, the Dodger record for strikeouts in a game is 18:
Sandy Koufax vs. San Francisco (August 31, 1959) 18 K’s
Sandy Koufax vs. Chicago 18 K’s (April 24, 1962)
Ramon Martinez vs. Atlanta 18 K’s (June 4, 1990)
Great game going for Penny. However, he has thrown 79 pitches through 5 innings. At the same rate he will only go two more innings. K’s take a lot of pitches to get the side out. However, great to see him pitching so well. Go LaRoche, Go Dodgers!!
Good job Brad. 14 K’s. 109 pitches. Time to turn it over to the bullpen. Go LaRoche, go Dodgers!!
Jungar:
Right on – don’t see how Loney and Kemp could perform less than Nomar and Gonzo. They are both fading and will continue as the season goes on. It is time for the youth with the veterans supporting them.
53. Big sports night for me. Both eyes trained on the Dodgers and sneaking a peak at the Pistons and Red Wings
Go Dodgers!!
I think somethings wrong with Nomar.
go bulls. boy growing up in LA i dont think there is a team I hate more than the pistons, besides the celtics. id also like to see san jose whoop the red wings butt, but your still cool euhlman. one question are you a tigers fan as well?
nomar and loney are both slumping. but id definitely like to see some creative way to see loney up here geting some ab’s. what are the chances of the NL picking up the DH? wouldnt it be nice, to quote the great Brian Wilson.
graffitigenius – I started following the Wings the same year I started following the Dodgers – 1952. Vin and Duke hooked me on the Dodgers. Gordie Howe hooked me on the Wings. The Tigers are my AL team. Back in the 50’s Frank Lary was a Yankee killer. That was enough to become a Tiger fan. Sort of fell into following the Pistons. They have a nice team now. Not the nasty boys. Really liked Isaiah and Dumars. However, my one true love in sports is the Dodgers. Go Dodgers!!
graffitigenius – Gotta go to bed. Wings up 2-0; Pistons up 76-56. Dodgers won big. Having a good night. Let’s get another one tomorrow. Hopefully Hendrickson is still hot. Go LaRoche, go Dodgers!!
“Right on – don’t see how Loney and Kemp could perform less than Nomar and Gonzo. They are both fading and will continue as the season goes on. It is time for the youth with the veterans supporting them.”
Translation:
“I don’t see how two kids with very few big-league ABs could perform less than a batting champ and a future hall-of-famer. I believe, in spite of having no statistical evidence to support my hypothesis, that they will get worse over the course of the season. It is time for a team in the second-biggest baseball market to turn over the season to a bunch of 22-year-olds because 2 or 3 players are slumping 1/6th of the way through the season.”
Sounds a little different like that, huh messagebear? Ridiculous, even?
Sorry, alex41592–no offense intended, but I don’t see the logic in moving Furcal to 6th. First off, while thoughts of hitting Pierre 1st or 8th, or Martin 2rd or 3rd are all ideas that I could see baseball people coming up with, having Furcal hit sixth is just not an option anyone is really going to consider. He was our most consistent everyday player last year, and has been one of the best shortstops and top of the order hitters in the NL for several years. You want your best guys hitting early, and he is definitely that. I suppose that if he continued to slump badly, we could reconsider that, but he’s picking it up, and we have seen that he starts slow.
Second, while I see the value in Pierre leading off to exentuate his strenghts more (base stealing), I disagree with the idea that Pierre hitting 8th would bury his strengths. I remember in the mid-80’s (1985, I think), Steve Sax got hurt, and Mariano Duncan started in his place at second and led off. When Sax came off the DL, they moved Duncan to short because he had done so well, and for a time, Sax slumped and was demoted to the 8 slot. He found his swing and was back at the top of the order. But he was also in a position to set the table at the bottom of the order. A guy who can steal bases, if he gets on can steal second and get sacrificed over to third, which is great with nobody on and a close game. But more importantly, even if you are hitting 8th, between a quarter and a third of the time you do not have the pitcher hitting behind you–instead you’re setting the table for a pinch hitter. So imagine a late inning situation in a one-run game. Pierre gets on and is a threat to steal. And up comes the Olmedo Saenz. Now the opposing pitcher has to give the Killer Tomato a steady diet of fastballs or risk Pierre moving into scoring position. A Hobson’s choice!
I should add I appreciate the information on Dodger Strikeout records. My brother and I saw Ramon Martinez strike out 18 in 1990. And he did that in 8 innings. We were actively rooting for Mickey Hatcher (who was playing first base that night) to boot a play in the ninth, because Ramon retired the first two hitters in the ninth without a strikeout. Alas, he did not, and Martinez merely tied Sandy.
graffitigenius – As much as I want to see Loney come up, I would never want to see anything so dreadful as the Designated Hitter rule extended beyond the Junior Circuit. The whole thing is an abomination–an insult to every sandlot (or, in my case, parking lot) player who was told that you had to play in the field before you could hit. Let’s not turn the National League into that silly batting practice circuit that defines American League “baseball.”
im going go out on a limb and say that gonzo won’t sniff the hall of fame ballot. he’s had a very nice career but nothing that makes him hof worthy.
i think nomar looks hurt also. he seems to have adjusted something in his swing. its disconcerting that he hasn’t showed any power. i guess this is why loney fans are upset—nomar was signed b/c he would be one of the teams few power sources. but if his power has dimished to the point of below average for a 1b, then he’s not really a better choice than loney. and the fact that nomar is here for 2 years makes loney seem expendable. its troubling.
I’ll be someone 20 bucks Nomar has a nagging injury he’s not telling anyone about.
1.nice to hear euhlman, a friend of mines uncle is Don Slaught, the Tigers hitting coach last year, old pirates catcher and longtime Leyland favorite. Im a Tiger fan before im an Angel fan, and the great Cecil Fielder was who I always wanted to hit like. Coming from LA I naturally dislike the Pistons ( especially webber ), as for the red wings, im also a kings fan so………..
2.leekfink, im an obvious fan of the NL, and my post was to be taken as nothing more than a joke. we got some good players waiting right now chomping at the bit to be in LA, just wish we had room for em.
im not betting you max.
Leek i feel the same about the Dh in the NL i feel it would destroy everything we believe to be baseball in the NL. Although i must say it would help us with the situation we are in now!! lol but that is not the way the game is supposed to be played. As far as Penny’s night…AMAZING!!!! but i did call the 7 IP i new with so many strikeouts his pitch count was going to go sky high but hey he sure did pitch a great game!
Great bounce back from a tough lost yesterday.. … Go Dodgers
Sorry graffitigenius. It was very convincing sarcasm. Plus I think people like me are desperate to call up Loney. Not desperate enough to hope that max_power_05 is right, but just about any other way.
Of course, I’m not taking that bet either.
I really think Nomar is struggling because of an injury. He just doesn’t look right to me. He’s not snapping throw the zone. Could be his timing is off or it could be his oblique.
Penny looked great tonight. I just hope he doesn’t look at this night and try to duplicate it every start now. When he gets fastball happy he gets rocked.
La Roche looks good in Dodger Blue.
jspelk:
Speaking of fastballs, rumor has it Brad forgot to zip his fly before going to the mound. Must have had a fire in those shorts cause he pitched a helluva game!
As for Nomar, I HOPE this was just a case of him having an off day. The one who appeared lethargic and apathetic to me out there Monday night was Ethier. He looked like he needed Prozac.
The best aquisition in the off-season thus far has to be Brad Penny. Sometimes the best moves are the ones left unmade. We’d be in a world of hurt right now without his arm.
Translation:
“I don’t see how two kids with very few big-league ABs could perform less than a batting champ and a future hall-of-famer. I believe, in spite of having no statistical evidence to support my hypothesis, that they will get worse over the course of the season. It is time for a team in the second-biggest baseball market to turn over the season to a bunch of 22-year-olds because 2 or 3 players are slumping 1/6th of the way through the season.”
—
I take this as you calling us stupid. Look would Martin be in the lineup if he hadnt been given an opportunity? Would Ethier? How are those 2 different than your argument against insterting Loney and Kemp? Now to move the discussion along i’ll concede Nomar. Just so things aren’t so radical for some of you. Change is hard I know. But lets look at Gonzo for a second, and lets move the discussion to 2007 and not 2000 (for both guys, but again your batting champ Nomar i’ll concede) But here are Gonzos last three full seasons ,all we are saying is he is declinging and not a better option at 9 million (12rbi) than Kemp is for 300k.
.304 .402 .532
.259 .373 .493
.271 .366 .459
.271 .352 .444
So there is some statistical evidence on Gonzo. Again i’ll concede Nomar but you dont have to look past last years 2nd half numbers (and then the previous 5 seasons) for evidence that he will decline. As Max and others mention, he is declining already and it soon we will probbably hear how he is nursing something and will go on the DL so its probably a moot point. This is based on history, not anything else. Also, you saw the games last year it wasnt as if loney did anything not to deserve a shot. (hit .380 and played great defense) And BTW, Nomar is my favorite Dodger not named Martin but I am serperating emotion from numbers. You cant be happy with a 3 hole hitter who has 10 runs scored and 1 homerun. Hitting .276 with a .322 OBP and a .366 sluging. As another point of referance these are numbers currently for Mark freaking Grudzielanek
.282/.330/.400/.730 Gruz
.276/.321/.366/.687 Nomar
jungar, I agree with your opinion about LuGo but I think you’re off track with Nomar. Let’s not forget that Nomar has already come up with a bunch of clutch hits for us this year. I think he still has the highest BA with runner’s in scoring position in baseball. He is either hurt or just plain slumping right now (which happens to every player in baseball). I would love to have Loney swinging in our line-up but now is not the time (his #s aren’t that great so far this year) as Nomar is still our most clutch hitter.
first of all, i always liked grudzy. but about nomar, look, if he can repeat last years numbers, that fine for a 1b and a #3 hitter. But if he doesn’t, that is rather pedestrian for a 1b. And if the dodgers don’t see a problem with that because he’s a fan favorite, they’re not doing themselves any favors. It’s possible that Nomar could repeat his numbers from last year, but remember he had an incredibly hot first half and a subpar second half because he broke down. So if he doesn’t start getting on a hot streak soon, I’m worried.
like I said, i love Nomar and I’ll give you that one but be careful in that Nomar has not played over 125 games since 2003 and his 122 games last year was the most in a long time and maybe shouldnt have been considering the numbers. What does make Nomar special is that even within the bad numbers he did have big hits, but then again any 3 hole hitter should just by defalt and having runners on and Kent behind you.
.358 .426 .578 1.004(1st half)
.229 .286 .408 .694 (2nd half)
But yeah, go blue. I love the dodgers and simply want to have another opinion here.
or what he said above. lol and yeah no offense to gruz. I think people have an emotional thing to Nomar where I doubt to many people have one with Gruz. I just went with any Royal on purpose cause were a 120 million club and they are a 50 million club.
jungar, I wasn’t calling anyone stupid…especially not multiple people.
2nd, if you read my post responding to messagebear, you’d know that he was saying bench Kent and Nomar. Not Gonzo and Nomar.
Make a little more sense to you now? Re-read it in that context and you might get it.
you know what? I’m stupid. I misread his original post as saying bench KenT instead of KemP. I’m with you on Kemp. But not on Nomar. Ignore my sarcastic reply please.
I think ultimately that Nomar’s lack of duribility is a blessing in disguise, as you said he hasn’t played a full season in several years which will eventually give Loney his opportunity to force his way into our line-up this year. If and when this happens, I hope our organization isn’t opposed to giving either Nomar or Loney a shot to play another position so we can potentially have both of their bats in our line-up.
its funny charris when jungar posted those stats comparing nomar and grudzy, all you said was he has clutch hits. we are not refuting the point he gets clutch hits, but his overall numbers for a three hitter are not there.i know it hurts to to come to that realization,nomar could very well be playing on cortizone shots and painkillers. but one homer? we could put any number of guys in that spot and they could put up nomars numbers for far less,
Will someone please wake me when the family’s done fighting with one another? Thanks!!
Go Dodgers!!
Go Hendrickson!!
I agree that across the board Nomar’s numbers are very pedestrian but you can’t overlook the fact that he’s tied with Martin for the team lead in RBI’s and the fact that he has the highest BA with runner’s in scoring position in baseball. I think we’d all agree that Martin is our best overall hitter right now but Nomar has been a big part of our team’s success so far this year.
Nothing like a little controversy, so let me add another issue that may be worth discussing. What’s going to happen with Bigbie, and should management make sure that he stays with the Dodgers. The clock is ticking, and we have until June 1 to bring him up to the big club, or he will be free to pursue other offers. On the plus side, he’s 29 years old and had been productive until his injuries sidelined him for some time – he’s also got the best average at Vegas in some 17 games; he performed very well in Spring Training and seems to be fully recovered from the injuries. Other than Kemp, I don’t see anyone in the AAA outfield for us that can match his performance and be deserving of a promotion to the majors. If we can trade him for a prospect of some recognized value, fine; otherwise, I think we need to bring him up on the big club by the end of May, even if it means displacing Clark, or Anderson, or Valdez, or even Gonzalez. If we bring up Kemp at some point soon, that will be our right-hand batting outfielder, so adding another left-hander shouldn’t leave us alltogether short.
I think, as far as Nomar’s current hitting is going, you could do this to shake things up and get Pierre/Furcal more pitches to steal on:
Furcal
Pierre
Martin
Kent
Nomar
Gonzo
Ethier
LaRoche
Nomar still has the gap power and ability to be good protection for Kent, and I think we’re gonna see Kent start heating up. Martin is more patient than Nomar (usually) and would be good to have with Furcal or Pierre on base. Gonzo bats 6th, at least until he gets out of his slump. I think you would see a lot more production 1-5 this way, and a similar amount 6-8.
messagebear,
I also think Bigbie should come up to the big league club, even if he’s just trade bait. Teams that want him will just wait until June 1 if we don’t do so. If we do, we can get something in return for him. After he’s traded, bring up Kemp. I don’t see the likelihood of Kemp and Bigbie being on the club at the same time – too many outfielders.
Some news from old buddy Tom Candiotti, he’s in the hall of fame. Specifically, the Bowling hall of fame.
http://www.bowlingdigital.com/bowling/node/15739
Tip of the cap to True Blue LA for that item. From what I understand, though, he does not bowl a knuckleball.
yeah guys I will shut up. I get so emotional about the dodgers. It’s just for years all we heard was well when our farm is rebuilt we will be able to make trades, play good young kids as oppossed to bringing in guys like Fred Mcgriff etc..Well..?
I’m all for batting Martin higher up in the order, be it 2nd or 3rd. Over the course of the season that would also give him a lot more AB’s, which has to be beneficial for the team.
puppyhead, I like your line-up but what about flip-flopping Nomar and Kent? Even though he’s slumping, I still like what Nomar’s doing with RISP.
best lineup we could have with the players we have now.
SS Furcal
C Martin
LF Ethier
1B Nomar
2B Kent
RF Kemp
3B LaRoche
CF Clark
this would be our most productive lineup. Without rally killer Pierre and first pitch pop up artist Gonzo.
jungar, you can rest easy, I think. Although Ned has brought veterans to the club, he hasn’t traded away the farm. To the contrary, when he was in trade negotiations for power bats in the offseason, he was repeatedly asked for Kemp, Loney, and Bills. As I understand it, that’s why he didn’t get some trades done – he refused to give up those prospects. I really believe that next year, if Kemp proves himself this year, LF is his. If Loney can rebound from his slow start to this season, 1b is probably his, with Nomar moving to 2b or 3b.
The problem with all that – where would Ned put a power bat even if he could get one through trade/free agency? If Loney is going to be the 1b of the future, LaRoche the 3b of the future, Kemp the LF of the future, Ethier the RF of the future, Martin the catcher of the future…we can’t put a power bat in the corner infield or corner outfield.
I believe Ned will protect the kids through this season. But in the offseason, when he acquires a power bat (which he MUST do, I think we all agree), someone will have to go. Loney, LaRoche, Kemp, or Ethier. Hopefully only 1 of them goes, not all of them. But there’s not enough room on the club for all those kids and A-Rod or Andruw Jones. (Not as long as Pierre is on the payroll, at least).
i would have to disagree. i kind of have a problem with the dodgers all going 2007 is ‘the year’ to win the series. I think Ned is desperate for power and will have no problem getting rid of the kids at somepoint. i hate to say it but this ‘try out laroche’ at 3rd sure looks like they are showcasing him to me. Its pretty clear they have little to no confidence in him considering they already moved abreu to 3rd. I just disagree that this is the year. I would much rather prefer to wait for this year to be over…let kemp, laroche, abreu and whoever else prove they belong in the majors, and let them play. These are high quality players that we can win with in the future. Why are we so concerned about winning this year? Cause we paid so much money for free agents who, for the most part, haven’t done much? What scares is me is HOW much management seems to be intent on winning this year at all costs. It sure looks like the future (or at least part of it) could be sacrificed in the process.
Ya know… he’s our center fielder for the time being… but since “bear” asked the question… I’d have no issue with replacing Pierre on the roster with Bigbie. But we all know that will never happen… so might as well keep rooting for Pierre to keep playing his heart out. Please Juan… play as recklessly as you can. Go all out for baseballs hit into the gap… dive as much as possible… heck, crash into the wall if you’re “feeling it” at the moment… and do it as much as you can. Please? I’d really hate to see you pull a hammy out there.
Oh, I forgot to mention… Juan Pierre is one heck of an individual… this much is certain. But we already have a leadoff hitter… AND he won the inagural Roy Campanella award last year.
Also, number two hitters are all about the type of player that Russell Martin demonstrates each and every day that he is… and if we’re not careful, he may end up being the future number three, four or five bat in the lineup. My only hope is that someone, anyone, please send Joe Morgan a highlight reel of Russell Martin, okay? His “lack of speed because he’s a catcher” spin is getting on my nerves these days.
I somehow doubt Ned will cave in to the demands of a $160-$200 deal with Boras to land Jones or A-Rod.
Hopefully LaRoche will be able to play tonight. X-rays were negative on his hand, but it’s possible he might be held out.
I agree with the concerns expressed by “jspelk2”. I think this is the year to let Kemp, LaRoche, and Abreu play, and possibly also Bigbie – let’s see who can contribute at the major league level. I don’t think they will perform significantly under the veteran talent that we have in place for this year and next, but they are our future and worth developing before we head for the trade market in the next off-season. I’m also not enchanted with the job that Colletti has done, given the payroll of $110 million that he has had at his disposal. After all, we don’t have a Pujols, we have Nomar; we don’t have a Beltran, we have Pierre, etc. So, I don’t want to have to bank on Colletti suddenly doing something great on the trade market?
*million
…but if I had my “d’ruthers”… definitely Matt Kemp in center field. “puppy’s” idea sounds the most viable… Bigbie as trade bait.
Schmidt going down with an injury really tainted what Colletti did this offseason, you’re right he didn’t land us a legendary stick but he did stack up our rotation. I think Wolf is showing that he has been a good pick-up this year and if Schmidt stayed healthy and had an average Schmidt-like season, our rotation would be looking great right now.
PuppyHead i love your line-up for us i would back that up anyday of the week! That is the best line-up we have with what we got at this moment! I also agree with some of you that Bigbie will be brought up and showcased as trade bait (like we are doing now with LaRouche *hope he is ok to play tonite*) as far as Ned’s moves i agree with Charris he has done such a good job except for some maybe confusing decisions but for the most part he has made our bullpen and starting rotation excellent and they will do quite a bit of carrying during the season as our offense will have to hop on there backs! I dont agree jspelk2 though only because if Ned was thinking that way he would have made a bigger move during this offseason and got rid of half our top prospects to get a power bat that everyone thinks we need (although it would be nice) i think he knows what we have in our farm and hes just waiting to see how everything is gonna work out without unloading our talent!
GO DODGERS!
GO HENDY!!!
Just remember guys, about the farm – the Dodgers have only barely been bit by the injury bug this year. Kent or Nomar will likely get injured, at least for a few weeks; it’s possible Gonzo or Furcal will, I suppose. We never know how that side of things will play out – but when it does play out, we will see several of these kids from the farm, no doubt about it. If they play well, there’s a good chance they’ll stay and some other slumper will get the boot.