Pierre will not be dropped to #8 until Abreu or LaRoche proves they can get the job done consistently and until they do Pierre should and will not be dropped. Rookies must earn their spots, they’re never given to them. Love when the Cubs come to town, should be a good series.
lol@jungar. I swear I would do anything to get rid of JP. If we could pay half his salary and even throw in some prospects I wonder if we could get something decent in return to maybe play 3B?
im sure cubs fans are very happy to see pierre remain at the top of our lineup.
i still don’t see what sense it makes to give inconsistent ab’s to your top prospect while at the same time play another prospect out of position at the mlb level…but again, whatever.
pierre’s gonna make someone look smart this series. lets hope its ned coletti. im really confused at they way we are handling laroche? i figured we would see him tonight vs the lefty.this better be good ned/grady…..
ok pat, lets see. Nomar isn’t hitting and he doesn’t take enough pitchers per AB to let Furcal steal bases, I didnt include pierre because he is NEVER on base. Kent has been hitting but is also impatient allowing Furcal not to steal. Gonzo IS STILL IN THE LINEUP!!
Wilson Betemit got over 400 ABs since last year to prove his worth but LaRoche gets 30 and they call up Abreu.
JAyson Stark ranked JP the 4th most overrated player in the game…
“Speed guys aren’t automatically overrated. (See Reyes, Jose for more details.) But for years now, we’ve been getting way too worked up about players whose mere ability to bring their legs with them to first base can make a pitcher want to call his therapist between pitches.
And that brings us to Pierre, a fellow so likable, it pains me to put him on this list. How can you not like a guy who loves baseball so much, he beats the grounds crew to the ballpark?
But I’ve been listening to GMs (mostly American League GMs) gripe for so long that Pierre is as overrated as any player in baseball, I’m finally ready to concede.
It was easier to argue the other side in 2003, the year Pierre and the Marlins won the World Series. That year, Pierre walked 55 times, struck out only 35 times, got 204 hits, reached base more than any leadoff man in baseball and led the league in steals.
But leadoff hitters with .303 on-base percentages, who are on pace to walk 31 times in 748 trips to the plate — i.e., the Juan Pierre presently playing out the first season of his five-year, $44 million contract with the Dodgers — they’re overrated. When Pierre reaches first in the late innings of a close game, he’s still a game-changer. But think how much more often he would reach first if he actually walked three times a week instead of once.”
i disagree with this part “When Pierre reaches first in the late innings of a close game, he’s still a game-changer” he’s had a few chances late in games to steal a base and he stood like trying not to get picked off instead of trying to steal base.
alex, as much as you say rookies should earn their spots i think the same goes for Pierre. In his career he’s mever had great numbers for a lead off man. He’s a perfect 8th hitting. Actaully the way he’s playing now he’s a perfect pinch runner.
You know what I was thinking about today? Wasn’t Crawford from TB on the trading block last year or not? I was just thinking if we would had got him and signed him to a long contract. Furcal missing part of the season and the lineup could have been Crawford, Martin, Nomar, Kent, Gonzo in the first 5 spots. When Furcal comes back then it would look like this. Furcal, Martin, Crawford, Kent, Nomar, Gonzo in the first 6 spots but would Grady have Nomar in the 5th spots and move Gonzo to the 6th? Next year we could have move Crawford to LF, Kemp in CF and Ethier in RF. Crawford would have been a big upgrade and his obp goes up every year not to mention his slg/ops too.
Interesting stats I did find about JP career stats ba/ops in that that spots. He is good batting 8th but that’s only 15 career at bats but it just won’t happen.
Max, I’m with you in that everyone should prove themselves. However, LaRoche and Abreu are unproven in this world of the big leagues. And in the world of baseball, veterans are always given the benefit of the doubt. That’s why rookies lose spots too soon and veterans always get another chance. They’re veterans because they’ve already proven they get the job done. Regardless of the stats Pierre has proven he CAN be a leadoff hitter and at times a very good one. We are the Los Angeles Dodgers we can’t just put Andy LaRoche at third base for a month and hope he’ll be good. In Kansas City, yes, you can do that like they have with Alex Gordon, who started off horribly. If Gordon did that here, he’d be in AAA. Kansas City can do it because nobody expects them to win and can afford to groom him and take losses in the meantime. When Martin and Ethier came up last year they lit it up and that’s why they’re starting to this day, because rookies have to earn their spots. If LaRoche and Abreu don’t start hitting they will not hesitate to send them right back down to AAA as they should. So in the end it’s all up to LaRoche and Abreu, if one of them breaks loose and grabs the job, it’s theirs. If they both fail, Las Vegas awaits them and we’re gonna have to trade for a third baseman. In the end it’s just that simple…
baseball is a what have you done for me lately sport. So far Pierre has proven to be an offensive black hole. Honestly he doesn’t deserve a roster spot.
see thats my problem with it though. im ok with sending them down, im not ok with trading them for a vet based on two weeks in the majors. i mean, the pads stuck with kouzmanoff and he’s starting to come around (finally) and you can’t really say they are less of a contender then we are. yes they are in a small market but they have plenty at stake. i don’t see why every single time there’s a positional battle it has to go to a vet because we’re in a big market. its not like the lineup is so packed with stars that la fans would abandon the team if they were replaced.
Well in the short term they’re gonna split time with Abreu and LaRoche. Whomever does the best with their opportunity will stay, while the other will go back down to Vegas on June 2nd for Kuo. Also, I seriously doubt they’re trading either LaRoche or Abreu unless it’s for a young proven third baseman and even then I don’t think Colletti would pull the trigger. Besides any deal that’s going to go down is not happening for over two months. And A LOT can happen in a season over the next two months.
1) If you’re going to complain about something, nobody will take you seriously if what you are describing is not actually the case. If you’ve noticed, Nomar is actually taking MORE pitches this year, (3.6 compared to a usual 3.2 P/PA). Of his 177 ABs, only 28 of them have been on the first pitch, and he’s hitting .393 on the first pitch! If anything, he needs to swing at the first pitch more, because he does well doing that. Nomar is not a good two-strike hitter at all – look at his situational stats. For his career, he has a sub-.700 OPS on all two strike counts except for a full count. Further, Garciaparra has put the ball in play on the first pitch in 1/5 of his career at bats, and has for his career hit .370 on the first pitch.
2) Stark is an idiot. The guy suggested Koufax was the most overrated left-handed pitcher in history. Further, his list was essentially a list of people who signed big contracts or are due for big contracts that have been off to poor starts this year. Besides, overrated is a worthless term unless you define who is doing the overrating – which he doesn’t. Bobby Abreu/JD Drew and Pierre do not have the same group of supporters, and there are certainly those who underappreciate those players too. If anything is overrated, it’s the analysis of most sportswriters.
3) I like Carl Crawford, but I think I’d be more willing to break the bank for Miguel Cabrera, whose power is there a bit more steadily already. If you’re going to trade for a big bat, I’d rather go all the way than pick up the next edition of Jeromy Burnitz (or even worse, bring Burnitz out of retirement). See, I can make a point that does something other than just refute Max_Power. 🙂
4) I wanted to see LaRoche in the lineup, maybe in left field. The guy hit the ball really well Wednesday night, just not quite hard enough. Nomar just missed a couple of big hits himself, too, if I remember correctly.
5) Ted Lilly has been off to a magnificent start. The most glaring statistic is that he’s not giving up very many hits, only 46 in 60.3 innings. A lot of this has to do with the Cubs defense – that is to say Soriano. The guy was decent in center field, but is absolutely beastly in left. It also helps him that he’s not in a terribly strong division. That he’s given up so many fly balls to the outfield but only 3 homers makes me think that his luck has to change sometime, maybe even against the Dodgers. Or he might just give up a bunch more hits.
Max.. You left out this part of the article about J D Drew
It could be worse, Dodgers fans. The Dodgers could still have Drew, who is ranked No. 2 (behind Barry Zito) by Stark.
“Let’s just say this guy is really fortunate the Red Sox’s great start has obscured his messy .169 average since April 21,” Stark says of Drew. “Because so far, the occupants of Fenway have been shockingly patient with him.”
Point is, Boston doesn’t put up with MEDIOCRE…That is why they got rid of Grady & that is why they will dump Drew if he doesn’t start earning that big salary..
Isn’t it a shame that the Dodger organization doesn’t have that kind of commitment to excellence ????
Just think, if Boston does dump Drew, Ned will get his chance to sign him again..
Nomar swings at the first pitch almost 50 percent of the time. How is Furcal supposed to get a read on a pitcher when Pierre and Nomar swing early in the count? (again leaving Pierre out until he gets on base)
The reason teams stick with their older players longer than they do with rookies — MONEY —
It’s all about the dollars.. Teams invest so much money on so called proven players that they stay with them longer than rookies so that they don’t look foolish for having overpaid marginal players… Case in point – J. Pierre & Nomar & Gonzo & Kent… Sometimes it works out sometimes it doesn’t…
Bottom line – Rookies (even if they are better) have to wait for injurys or until management is willing to admit they made a mistake…
I don’t get the fascination with Bigbie — a 29-year-old with lots of Triple-A experience SHOULD dominate at that level. But it’s not necessarily indicative of what he’d do on the big club.
You can get a read on a pitcher if the batter swings. The hitter does not obstruct the baserunner’s line of sight. And I’m pretty sure it’s not more than 50% this year; Nomar has seen 89 1-0 counts this year out of 190 PAs, and I know that he has not fouled off or swung to reach all those 0-1 counts. He’s made contact on 29 first pitches.
My point is, the problem is not that Nomar is doing the same thing he’s done all of his career.
My problem or question with Nomar is that there seems to be no power behind his swing this year. How can one lose it so completely all at once, unless there is something physical going on that he may not be admitting.
just love reading max power pounding the intelligence of Dodger management. he has never been a part of major league baseball…… but he did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
I swear Nomar is hurt but like most players I don’t really think he wanted to come out of the lineup and letting the team down. He need to tell someone if he hurting or not.
Sure would have been nice if Pierre would still have been on base… Oh well.. I guess the dodgers don’t pay him enough to be good at what he is supposed to do. Steal bases – not get picked off.. es
He took a chance on the pitcher falling asleep on the mound. With us being up 4-0 it was a nice idea, but it failed. If Pierre did it Max, Rwbjr among others would have had a stroke, lol.
well Max Martin Homered after that……..then got called back then almost lost his head then walked then the benches cleared and the bullpen emptied. Then Martin Got thrown out at second….
I just want to say I am tired of dodger fans ragging on JD Drew. JD Drew with a .400 OBP – above avg speed, above avg outfielder with an above average arm and decent power. We have two outfielders that take bad routes, can’t hit the cutoff man on the fly, and some ***** wants to talk about Drew being so bad. If Drew was still here we would not be looking at 5 yrs of Juan Pierre. The dodgers don’t make the playoffs last year without Drew. The dodgers may make it this year in spite of Pierre.
no one wants Seanez. Tsao is destined to be a closer somewhere down the line. He won’t be here. I think if Brazoban comes back strong Tsao could be traded.
JD is OK, I just think he is a punk for the way he left LA. “I’m staying, I’m staying, I’m staying, whoops, I’m leaving you, now scramble for someone to replace me at the last minute.” I just saw Boras at the game, he’s the Devil Incarnate.
coopert9 – does anyone really think that JP replaced JD? Pierre was brought in to replace Lofton, similar players. Gonzo was the bat they hoped would replace Drew until Kemp breaks through.
do you really think they would have signed either one of them if not for drew leaving. drew was going to play center, but the dodgers not only had to try to replace drew’s power, but they also had to find a cf. if drew is here, pierre is not.
Ok, this has nothing to do with Grady, lets get this straight immediately! Fact is this: Cubs just ripped apart Brazoban and Broxton and that’s the end of it!
My gut instinct was, Beimel wasn’t doing bad or anything, so why take him out?
But there was a righthander up. Last year Grady would have left him in; he didn’t use Beimel as a lefty only guy. Instead, though, he decided to “play the percentages.” Actual numbers reveal Murton’s hitting .258 against lefties and .295 against righties on the season.
from one of the worst BP we look chitty from one of the Best they look great….and thats Baseball….Cubs were a heavy fav to win nl Central because of there hitting they are the underachiving team this year and that what I was afrid of with them coming in was that we always seem to have a bad habit of waking up good struggling teams…
Shut you down Buddy gonna shut you Down! Gotta lil buddy he’s called Saito Strikeout here w come he’s an oldy but a goodie Strikeout here we come! Game over and it was my Buddy Saito There you Go !
Boy That game was like surviving an arial attack. Good old fashin baseball, but we’re not use to that. Our bullpen had a bad night Except for Seanez & Saito. Brazoban went from 0.00 to 27.00 But the main thing is we won and we’re still in First Place.
Ok Hendy Vs Zambrano…First Hendy Vs Cubs Cubs have Fastball HR hitters Hendy throws alot of Junk and has been knocked around by junk hitters.Zamb Throws Alot of really hard stuff and the kids get really worked up on hitting hard stuff where the vets hit that stuff and usually hit it hard.Same game plan get thru the SP and hopefully with a lead and from hendy… Hope he saw his shrink 6 or 7 inns. Lockdown the kids no drinking for you tonight bullpen! Bad Bullpen Good Saito.. oldman…Who shuts em Down!Cubs are a Very talented underachiving team kinna like the Astros last few years but not quite the cards of last.Beat em every **** time and they won’t have that chance.We Split 6 with the Brew crew and I fully feel that now we are better and they had the Home opened advantage.
Tonight was alot of fun with the rest of you we probabley had a lil internet bubble goin but it worked and it was a POSITIVE DODGER BUBBLE goin.Lastyear we had the Nomar Pancho to Rally with but so far this year we have had ups n downs neg vs positive posts and alot of less infected Go Blue fans involved.Tonight we had a positive Internet Fan Rally going with a few Blogging in and viola’ we had a rally and won the game!…I’m not saying that an internet rally of positive vibes will always get the job done but it was a Helluvalot more fun then all the JP is gonna pop up Rants that has plauged this Blog and if you even try to toast my RAH RAH SIS BOOM BAH HIT THAT BALL AND RUN chant I’ll have to toast you in a broiler set at 1500F.I believe in the team and we should never had to deal with that but our Bullpen went south for 80proof or we drink the brewers reasons.JB was 4-6mph off on his fastball and everyone else but the oldman…Saito was off.Grady might have jumped the gun on Beimel because he has really been a great inn. pitcher and not used for just 1 situational batter for this season that I can remember.The whole thing was a Win for the Dodgers and a Loss for the cubs.Glad that all our cheers from the blog was answered with a WIN….
Hey Patriot? Who said Biemel had a bad game?Not gonna flog grady for pulling him nor Beimel for allowing a hit. Grady has a huge arsenial there and everybody needs work to stay sharp. I think grady was trying to move Beimel to a more sit.pos.arena and it didn’t work then he scrambled and fubar came around then we had to Give em Fubar in the face you guys **** we Rock Grady’s gonna win anyways team.
It never rains in Southern California, but I have to say this was atrocious. a 5-1 lead, pull the starter and watch the bullpen have a massive meltdown. Not that it was all their fault, as the D (again) misfired.
Yeah, they won. Great. But they had to plow through the bullpen to do it, and had to scramble back after giving up 7 in the 7th.
Think of it like this. You’re trying to give yourself the best chance to win the most games. You have a starter who is basically cruising along. Let him pitch the 7th. Then you’re all prepared for the set up in the 8th, closer in the 9th. Let him get into some trouble in the 7th… not that he would have since he was doing fine to that point.
I’m really getting sick of these gambles, because every time Grady goes against rational baseball thinking, he gets burned and it takes a monumental effort to overcome it. Those efforts aren’t always there.
The trend is your friend. Go by the book and win, and don’t burn out the pen… you might really need them for the next game.
did you watch Lowe? he was not doing well… Like I stated before he was looking Done.The Bullpen? The great Bullpen? They blew up Beimel braz Brox to lose 7 runs in 3 outs? C’mon…They were not 100% probably 80% proof…That was a hometaem at home with a day off oooh man we don’t feel good hangover blowup.Steroids are not the problem in baseball nor america.Rich *** Kids with a day off?They are human and do what we all do…Party time!Then they screw up and never realize that they are not allowed to.My wife and I make in 3 yrs + what 1 rookie does but it doesn’t matter and that’s why this team is long in vets. LA is too easy a city to get screwed up in.Too many Kids at once and all of em will get ****** into the void we all avoid.What did Straw do? Pulled it out and ****** it up….and I’m not saying our kids here are bad like that but the vets do certainaly provide guidance and stabilty for them.@ 20 I knew all I needed to Know @ 30 I was smarter then the rest @ 40 I know I was stupid when I was younger.@50 I’ll be a ***** but I’m only 40 now….
Guy’s comments above mine indicates he knows very little about baseball. ( seems like he might be a relative of Little)
“He was looking done”
please.. hes a sinkerballer type pitcher, they get better when they get tired, thats one.
2. winning bball is built around pitching and defense. so? Leave your pitcher in with a 4 run lead, let him work another and go from there. If Lowe asked to be pulled or said ” I’m done” different story. A better question and point to make is;
” why did he start Betemit at 3rd in Lowes last start?”
always put in your best infield defense with a groundball pitcher!!
I’ve said it before, I will say it again; Grady Little is by far the worst manager I have ever seen, PERIOD!! He does more or less to give his team the WORST CHANCE at winning a game, PERIOD!!
Delweine – with all your knowledge about sinkerball pitchers, it seems to me that in watching D. Lowe over the past few years, his sinker actually flattens out when he gets tired, because he overthrows.
I think it’s really difficult to question Grady over pitching moves with any accuracy. So far, he’s managed this bullpen pretty phenomenally – the bullpen ERA is indicative of that. Sure, there have been a few moves that have been questionable, but that can be said of EVERY manager over the course of 2 months. You can’t say “The bullpen ERA is great because of the great pitchers, not Grady” when they pitch well and “It’s Grady’s fault” when they give up runs. If he gets all the blame for last night, he gets all the credit for the great performances, too. You can’t have it both ways.
I didn’t watch Lowe pitch last night, but remember that he’s thrown CGs in 2 of his last 3 outings – maybe Grady wanted to give him a break since his team had a 4-run lead and he has a phenomenal bullpen behind him. It’s not a bad move, esp. with another off-day Monday to rest the ‘pen.
If Beimel/Broxton/Brazoban had let up a run or 2, no one would have been questioning these moves sincerely. The fact that they melted down – it *****. But at least we have our biggest bullpen meltdown of the year and come away with the win – that’s the really redeeming factor here.
If you’re looking for a reason to hate Grady, you’ll find it. Same can be said of 90% of managers in baseball.
Great response and overall comment, puppyhead. I’m not a fan of Grady’s, but you can’t micro-manage from the sidelines to the extent of picking at every on-field decision, and I’m very glad of the final outcome of this game. It’s nice to see one of these kind of games come out in favor of the Blue.
Now that we have two of our prospects vying for the third base job, I’ve looked at our minor league picture, and I’m getting concerned about what seems to be a lack of real OF prospects for the next couple of years. Aside from Bigbie, who will probably be gone by the end of next week, we don’t have anybody who’s hitting markedly over .300 and not with power. I would have liked to see Kemp back up here, but he’s not exactly burning up the AAA, and three HR is not much to brag about. It seems like we have decent prospects for the infield, but I don’t see much of that in the OF. We have to assume that Gonzo will be gone next year, and Ethier is not really showing us what he did last year, so this concern seems pretty real to me. Maybe we need to shop around for somebody else’s 1st or 2nd round picks the past couple of years to see if we can’t stock up some power hitting talent in our farm system.
Man, it took me forever to read all of these posts. It is great to see all of the passion.
A few personal observations that I would like to share with you guys who couldn’t make it to the Ravine:
Lowe pitched great, but he definitely needed to come out when he did. Not only was his sinker ball flattening out, but he was missing his spots and started to get the ball up in the zone, which is a recipe for disaster.
I do believe that Grady pulled Beimel too soon, but we have seen Beimel fall apart very quickly, of late, so I really can’t fault Grady for yanking him.
Brazoban did exactly what he used to do before his injury. He throws smoke, but it is flat smoke (i.e., very little movement on the ball). The Cubs are a very good hitting team and they jumped on his “flast” ball (flat fastball). He tried to sneak one of those flast balls past Soriano with a 1 and 2 count. The ball was up in the zone and Soriano roped it down the line. (That was the crusher, in my opinion). It would have been a great time for an off-speed pitch, if you ask me.
For the first time all season, Broxton also kept the ball up a little in the zone, which led to him getting shelled. Not a mechanical thing at all, just a location thing. He will be fine. (I’m not too sure about Brazoban).
Seanez was lights out. Like most of you, I always squirm in my seat a bit when he comes in, but his past several outings have been outstanding, and last night’s was no exception. His ball was moving very well and he kept it down.
And what can you say about Saito. He was, well, Saito. Although Dodger Stadium isn’t as electric as when Gagne used to come in, Saito is a close second. “Bad to the Bone” never sounded so good!
I am very disappointed that Grady is giving Kent the day off today (as has been reported). Kent is, hands down, our best power hitter right now and needs to be in the line-up. He had Thursday off and will have Monday off. This move could have devastating results for us today. I am not saying that Abreu can’t handle 2B, but Kent is our home run leader and we NEED home runs.
Regardless, it was an outstanding come-from-behind victory, and a great one to see in person.
fisher i love your late night ost game ramblings,keep them up they are highly entertaining, ive never seen someone change subjects that quick before. what was up with your rant about steroids, and rich kids, and LA being easy to get screwed up in? you somehow managed to make a case that our whole team partied the night before, and therefore blew it because they had an off day at home? thats great!! these guys are professional ball players and im sure they have more than their fair share of fun. to try and blame the whole team for one questionable call grady made is laughable. kevin kennedy said it. i wonder if grady was listening to vin call the game, he was going on and on about georgia tech(nomar), matt murton being a college and minor league home run derby champ…and then boom grady comes out with the hook. what a coinkidink. matt murton wont even get 450 abs this year and we treated him like vlad guerrero. oh well thank goodness for saito, hes about as lights out as there is in MLB right now. on a side note that abreu error on that weak ground ball to third had rookie mistake written all over it, i dont think ive seen nomar miss a pick ever.
i totally agree fansince 53 about kent, hes locked in right now, i havent seen his splits vs big Z but they must be bad. one thing we didnt elaborate on was if kent was moving to first to spell nomar( we all know he could use it). then I wouldnt question it. but kent out of the lineup against a guy with a 6.00 era who is giving up bombs at a record pace doesnt sound right.
In my 71 yrs. of following, my BUMS, I don’t recall, EVER being so wired up after a game, like last night. I had to take a sleeping pill. I’ve been thru many nail biting games, in my yrs. BUT never, like last night. PS; I feel deep down in my heart, that Abreu is going to be the MAN.
He may not be the POWER guy we seek, but he will nail that
One of the better Dodger lineups I’ve seen in the past week. Let’s just hope that Abreu starts hitting.
-Brandon of http://dodgerbaseball.mlblogs.com/
I don’t get why Pierre has to be at or near the top of every lineup? He’d probably do better further down, like 8th. Okay lets go kick some Cub butt.
Pierre will not be dropped to #8 until Abreu or LaRoche proves they can get the job done consistently and until they do Pierre should and will not be dropped. Rookies must earn their spots, they’re never given to them. Love when the Cubs come to town, should be a good series.
Go Dodgers!
Abreu’s had 3 ABs. Give him a chance.
With the exception of his bunt attempt which he popped up Abreu has had good swings at the ball. He’s still a middle infielder but whatever.
Did You know that JP is only the second player in history to record 200 hits in a season and not bat .300
if we keep him up at the top of the order this year, he will do it again.
His OBP is now .303 so at least he will reach .300 in something.
lol@jungar. I swear I would do anything to get rid of JP. If we could pay half his salary and even throw in some prospects I wonder if we could get something decent in return to maybe play 3B?
im sure cubs fans are very happy to see pierre remain at the top of our lineup.
i still don’t see what sense it makes to give inconsistent ab’s to your top prospect while at the same time play another prospect out of position at the mlb level…but again, whatever.
pierre’s gonna make someone look smart this series. lets hope its ned coletti. im really confused at they way we are handling laroche? i figured we would see him tonight vs the lefty.this better be good ned/grady…..
I believe LaRoche will be sent down on 6/2 to make room for Kuo. Besides, Abreu needs to show the Dodgers what he can do.
Gentlemen: PLEASE, EXPAND your minds. Use your noodle
to **** on someone other, than JP. There is more to focus on, other, than JP….
For the love of Mike,,,Tsk,,
ok pat, lets see. Nomar isn’t hitting and he doesn’t take enough pitchers per AB to let Furcal steal bases, I didnt include pierre because he is NEVER on base. Kent has been hitting but is also impatient allowing Furcal not to steal. Gonzo IS STILL IN THE LINEUP!!
Wilson Betemit got over 400 ABs since last year to prove his worth but LaRoche gets 30 and they call up Abreu.
hows that for being open minded.
JAyson Stark ranked JP the 4th most overrated player in the game…
“Speed guys aren’t automatically overrated. (See Reyes, Jose for more details.) But for years now, we’ve been getting way too worked up about players whose mere ability to bring their legs with them to first base can make a pitcher want to call his therapist between pitches.
And that brings us to Pierre, a fellow so likable, it pains me to put him on this list. How can you not like a guy who loves baseball so much, he beats the grounds crew to the ballpark?
But I’ve been listening to GMs (mostly American League GMs) gripe for so long that Pierre is as overrated as any player in baseball, I’m finally ready to concede.
It was easier to argue the other side in 2003, the year Pierre and the Marlins won the World Series. That year, Pierre walked 55 times, struck out only 35 times, got 204 hits, reached base more than any leadoff man in baseball and led the league in steals.
But leadoff hitters with .303 on-base percentages, who are on pace to walk 31 times in 748 trips to the plate — i.e., the Juan Pierre presently playing out the first season of his five-year, $44 million contract with the Dodgers — they’re overrated. When Pierre reaches first in the late innings of a close game, he’s still a game-changer. But think how much more often he would reach first if he actually walked three times a week instead of once.”
i disagree with this part “When Pierre reaches first in the late innings of a close game, he’s still a game-changer” he’s had a few chances late in games to steal a base and he stood like trying not to get picked off instead of trying to steal base.
alex, as much as you say rookies should earn their spots i think the same goes for Pierre. In his career he’s mever had great numbers for a lead off man. He’s a perfect 8th hitting. Actaully the way he’s playing now he’s a perfect pinch runner.
You know what I was thinking about today? Wasn’t Crawford from TB on the trading block last year or not? I was just thinking if we would had got him and signed him to a long contract. Furcal missing part of the season and the lineup could have been Crawford, Martin, Nomar, Kent, Gonzo in the first 5 spots. When Furcal comes back then it would look like this. Furcal, Martin, Crawford, Kent, Nomar, Gonzo in the first 6 spots but would Grady have Nomar in the 5th spots and move Gonzo to the 6th? Next year we could have move Crawford to LF, Kemp in CF and Ethier in RF. Crawford would have been a big upgrade and his obp goes up every year not to mention his slg/ops too.
Interesting stats I did find about JP career stats ba/ops in that that spots. He is good batting 8th but that’s only 15 career at bats but it just won’t happen.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/6550/situational;_ylt=Ak9ITg76iEZEImiZfRTUQT.FCLcF?year=career&type=Batting
I mean obp but ops ain’t bad either.
Max, I’m with you in that everyone should prove themselves. However, LaRoche and Abreu are unproven in this world of the big leagues. And in the world of baseball, veterans are always given the benefit of the doubt. That’s why rookies lose spots too soon and veterans always get another chance. They’re veterans because they’ve already proven they get the job done. Regardless of the stats Pierre has proven he CAN be a leadoff hitter and at times a very good one. We are the Los Angeles Dodgers we can’t just put Andy LaRoche at third base for a month and hope he’ll be good. In Kansas City, yes, you can do that like they have with Alex Gordon, who started off horribly. If Gordon did that here, he’d be in AAA. Kansas City can do it because nobody expects them to win and can afford to groom him and take losses in the meantime. When Martin and Ethier came up last year they lit it up and that’s why they’re starting to this day, because rookies have to earn their spots. If LaRoche and Abreu don’t start hitting they will not hesitate to send them right back down to AAA as they should. So in the end it’s all up to LaRoche and Abreu, if one of them breaks loose and grabs the job, it’s theirs. If they both fail, Las Vegas awaits them and we’re gonna have to trade for a third baseman. In the end it’s just that simple…
baseball is a what have you done for me lately sport. So far Pierre has proven to be an offensive black hole. Honestly he doesn’t deserve a roster spot.
see thats my problem with it though. im ok with sending them down, im not ok with trading them for a vet based on two weeks in the majors. i mean, the pads stuck with kouzmanoff and he’s starting to come around (finally) and you can’t really say they are less of a contender then we are. yes they are in a small market but they have plenty at stake. i don’t see why every single time there’s a positional battle it has to go to a vet because we’re in a big market. its not like the lineup is so packed with stars that la fans would abandon the team if they were replaced.
Well in the short term they’re gonna split time with Abreu and LaRoche. Whomever does the best with their opportunity will stay, while the other will go back down to Vegas on June 2nd for Kuo. Also, I seriously doubt they’re trading either LaRoche or Abreu unless it’s for a young proven third baseman and even then I don’t think Colletti would pull the trigger. Besides any deal that’s going to go down is not happening for over two months. And A LOT can happen in a season over the next two months.
1) If you’re going to complain about something, nobody will take you seriously if what you are describing is not actually the case. If you’ve noticed, Nomar is actually taking MORE pitches this year, (3.6 compared to a usual 3.2 P/PA). Of his 177 ABs, only 28 of them have been on the first pitch, and he’s hitting .393 on the first pitch! If anything, he needs to swing at the first pitch more, because he does well doing that. Nomar is not a good two-strike hitter at all – look at his situational stats. For his career, he has a sub-.700 OPS on all two strike counts except for a full count. Further, Garciaparra has put the ball in play on the first pitch in 1/5 of his career at bats, and has for his career hit .370 on the first pitch.
2) Stark is an idiot. The guy suggested Koufax was the most overrated left-handed pitcher in history. Further, his list was essentially a list of people who signed big contracts or are due for big contracts that have been off to poor starts this year. Besides, overrated is a worthless term unless you define who is doing the overrating – which he doesn’t. Bobby Abreu/JD Drew and Pierre do not have the same group of supporters, and there are certainly those who underappreciate those players too. If anything is overrated, it’s the analysis of most sportswriters.
3) I like Carl Crawford, but I think I’d be more willing to break the bank for Miguel Cabrera, whose power is there a bit more steadily already. If you’re going to trade for a big bat, I’d rather go all the way than pick up the next edition of Jeromy Burnitz (or even worse, bring Burnitz out of retirement). See, I can make a point that does something other than just refute Max_Power. 🙂
4) I wanted to see LaRoche in the lineup, maybe in left field. The guy hit the ball really well Wednesday night, just not quite hard enough. Nomar just missed a couple of big hits himself, too, if I remember correctly.
5) Ted Lilly has been off to a magnificent start. The most glaring statistic is that he’s not giving up very many hits, only 46 in 60.3 innings. A lot of this has to do with the Cubs defense – that is to say Soriano. The guy was decent in center field, but is absolutely beastly in left. It also helps him that he’s not in a terribly strong division. That he’s given up so many fly balls to the outfield but only 3 homers makes me think that his luck has to change sometime, maybe even against the Dodgers. Or he might just give up a bunch more hits.
I would probably bat Pierre 8th also. I’d probably do this:
1. Furcal ss
2. LaRoche 3B
3. Martin C
4. Kent 2B
5. Gonzo LF
6. Nomar 1B
7. Ethier RF
8. Pierre CF
come see a funny bobblehead pic at http://altdodgerthinking.blogspot.com
Most people would like him batting 8th also so you not alone.
Max.. You left out this part of the article about J D Drew
It could be worse, Dodgers fans. The Dodgers could still have Drew, who is ranked No. 2 (behind Barry Zito) by Stark.
“Let’s just say this guy is really fortunate the Red Sox’s great start has obscured his messy .169 average since April 21,” Stark says of Drew. “Because so far, the occupants of Fenway have been shockingly patient with him.”
Point is, Boston doesn’t put up with MEDIOCRE…That is why they got rid of Grady & that is why they will dump Drew if he doesn’t start earning that big salary..
Isn’t it a shame that the Dodger organization doesn’t have that kind of commitment to excellence ????
Just think, if Boston does dump Drew, Ned will get his chance to sign him again..
Won’t that be Great ???
On another note, My HUGE concern is, that June 1st is
approaching, very FAST and I’m
concerned re; Bigbee. He would
be an immense loss…..
RWBJ, we were a better team last year and we had Drew and not Pierre. Of course Lofton has his .360 OBP really really helped.
Nomar swings at the first pitch almost 50 percent of the time. How is Furcal supposed to get a read on a pitcher when Pierre and Nomar swing early in the count? (again leaving Pierre out until he gets on base)
Alex –
The reason teams stick with their older players longer than they do with rookies — MONEY —
It’s all about the dollars.. Teams invest so much money on so called proven players that they stay with them longer than rookies so that they don’t look foolish for having overpaid marginal players… Case in point – J. Pierre & Nomar & Gonzo & Kent… Sometimes it works out sometimes it doesn’t…
Bottom line – Rookies (even if they are better) have to wait for injurys or until management is willing to admit they made a mistake…
I don’t get the fascination with Bigbie — a 29-year-old with lots of Triple-A experience SHOULD dominate at that level. But it’s not necessarily indicative of what he’d do on the big club.
Max
Do you really think we had a better team last year???
That surprises me..
I think this team has a lot more potential if we can get the right players in the lineup…
If we can get Kemp, Loney, and possibly Bigbie involved, I think we can be a great team..
bigbie would be ok in a marlon anderson type role…nothing more.
You can get a read on a pitcher if the batter swings. The hitter does not obstruct the baserunner’s line of sight. And I’m pretty sure it’s not more than 50% this year; Nomar has seen 89 1-0 counts this year out of 190 PAs, and I know that he has not fouled off or swung to reach all those 0-1 counts. He’s made contact on 29 first pitches.
My point is, the problem is not that Nomar is doing the same thing he’s done all of his career.
Martin is a stud. 33 RBI’s on the year. Our new perenial All-Star!!! Great hit, Russ.
GO BLUE!!!
martin is AMAZING
Great hit Gonzo
What a Stud
Our perenial over the hill overpaid player
My problem or question with Nomar is that there seems to be no power behind his swing this year. How can one lose it so completely all at once, unless there is something physical going on that he may not be admitting.
just love reading max power pounding the intelligence of Dodger management. he has never been a part of major league baseball…… but he did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
I swear Nomar is hurt but like most players I don’t really think he wanted to come out of the lineup and letting the team down. He need to tell someone if he hurting or not.
Look at his k’s and error this year. He’s on pace to have more then last year. Something tell me he’s hurt.
patriotacts, It’s not about getting a read it’s about getting a count to run on.
man is Pierre just gonna keep killing worms.
JP finally gets on base and then gets picked off. Arrrggghhh. Let’s play smart.
so much for Pierre getting on base. Man he’s getting worse.
yay kent!
Go Jeff, thanks for bailing us out after JP’s base running gaffe. Should have been a 3 run shot.
****. You can’t get anymore right down the middle then that!
Wow, did Kent unload on THAT! Pierre had a tough time reading Lilly’s move, you could see it on previous pitches, an obvious mistake but it happens.
G1 Sabre3 ^5
At A Boy Kent… Big Bomb
How sweet it is
Sure would have been nice if Pierre would still have been on base… Oh well.. I guess the dodgers don’t pay him enough to be good at what he is supposed to do. Steal bases – not get picked off.. es
What was that 3rd base attempt with no outs by Kent all about weds night?
He took a chance on the pitcher falling asleep on the mound. With us being up 4-0 it was a nice idea, but it failed. If Pierre did it Max, Rwbjr among others would have had a stroke, lol.
Fisher928
Kent had a Pierre moment…
I rest my case
Great play by Abreu!
LOLZ ALEX! you are crazy! Pierre would never hit the ball that hard!! LAWLZ!
i really have no idea what you guys are talking about…i was working during that game.
Touche’ Alex
That Abreu play had flashes of Beltre on it.
well Max Martin Homered after that……..then got called back then almost lost his head then walked then the benches cleared and the bullpen emptied. Then Martin Got thrown out at second….
Still shouldda plunked Fielder…
and yet he’s still not a 3b…
is that 9 errors for kent? good god. nice hr though.
Kent leads the team with 9 errors. Next is Raffy with 6. Lowe is cruising tonight, one of the few bright spots from DePo.
That leg kick from Lilly makes it tough to pick up that pick off move. Two on for Kent, let’s go!!!
Big KENT!!!
for the first time, im glad we didn’t get soriano.
Four RBI night so far for Kent! And some guy named Russell Martin is coming up…
wow Lilly 4.1 inns 5 runs maybe more
Pierre got a ******* of a hit..
Pierre scored…
Horray Horray ….
Yeah How bad would these guys ride him at what $125M/7yr?
Ramirez sure would have looked nice in Dodger Blue.
wow Martin first pitch swing musta been to keep Kent from tryin to steal 3rd…
lol can you blame him?
pads bullpen implodes two nights in a row…sweet.
ok grittle, he looks tired.
I think it’s time to bring in the reinforcements. Nice outing D-Lowe. Our pen can close out 3 innings up by 4.
Braz,Johnny bring the Heat,Saito Game over ty for playing….
abreu’s first hit…niiiiice
^5 ABREU WTG welcome to the BIGS!!!!
Abreu gets his first hit. Let’s hear it for the kids!!!
First M.L hit and great hustle from Abreu! With the great play earlier as well I think he’ll be right back in there tomorrow.
ugh…except that seanez is warming…
Congrats to the Kid!!
he’s been ok lately needs the work up by 4 or more.
who could replace seanez from vegas….houlton perhaps?
i just don’t trust him unless we’re up by about 10.
Tsao when he gets off the DL…although i wouldn’t be suprised if Tsao is traded sometime this year.
max where do you get that from?Step away from the Crackpipe….
If we trade anyone its gonna be Seanez
I just want to say I am tired of dodger fans ragging on JD Drew. JD Drew with a .400 OBP – above avg speed, above avg outfielder with an above average arm and decent power. We have two outfielders that take bad routes, can’t hit the cutoff man on the fly, and some ***** wants to talk about Drew being so bad. If Drew was still here we would not be looking at 5 yrs of Juan Pierre. The dodgers don’t make the playoffs last year without Drew. The dodgers may make it this year in spite of Pierre.
That was actually a nice throw by JP….
no one wants Seanez. Tsao is destined to be a closer somewhere down the line. He won’t be here. I think if Brazoban comes back strong Tsao could be traded.
It’s nice to see Brazoban back in Dodger blue.
If we didn’t have JD we might have gone futher in the playoffs….
Cubs would pounce on Seanez their BP is Garbage.
JD is OK, I just think he is a punk for the way he left LA. “I’m staying, I’m staying, I’m staying, whoops, I’m leaving you, now scramble for someone to replace me at the last minute.” I just saw Boras at the game, he’s the Devil Incarnate.
3-11 with 8 Blsv is what I heard today….
coopert9 – does anyone really think that JP replaced JD? Pierre was brought in to replace Lofton, similar players. Gonzo was the bat they hoped would replace Drew until Kemp breaks through.
uh oh.
i spoke too soon about the pads bullpen
Cubs are back in this thing….
poor dlowe…
Nice pitching Braz, wow he got smoked…
Bring Big Johnny!
yeah he did….
do you really think they would have signed either one of them if not for drew leaving. drew was going to play center, but the dodgers not only had to try to replace drew’s power, but they also had to find a cf. if drew is here, pierre is not.
Braz looked good in vegas and on weds…
we could have brought in seanez to do that kind of work.
Screw Drew and his NEW deal he made his bed and that bed is 3,000 miles away…could care less about him…
Ouch
hmmmm….
No, now it’s poor Lowe, wow this team can hit when they get it going.
Nice heads up play to get Lee.
****. Broxton always gets in trouble when he falls in love with that slider.
smallball….works for me
Please, stop the bleeding. Let’s get out of this inning. Sweet Lou’s disposition sure has changed over the past 20 minutes.
what’s wrong with brox?
one out PLEASE!
This is getting ugly.
this is painful!
……………….***????????
This is a complete nightmare, but it had to happen at some point, this bullpen has been amazing till this point…
K. Grady. Broxton obviously is having a rare off night. Lets get someone else in there.
ugh seanez warming again.
Does anyone think Grittle didn’t allow Braz and Brox to warm up properly by yanking Beimal so quickly???
take em out grittle, its over.
Grady left broxton in 1 batter too long. It was kind of obvious from the get go Broxton didn;t have his best stuff. Great here comes Rudy.
Funny comment by the WGN annoucer – “Seanez has pitched an entire simulation game in the bullpen.”
Get ready for the 11th batter of the inning….
Ok, this has nothing to do with Grady, lets get this straight immediately! Fact is this: Cubs just ripped apart Brazoban and Broxton and that’s the end of it!
i blame grittle
at least he didn’t bring in bills with runners on… i think he’s learned.
Broxton wasn’t suppose to be in this 7th innings anyway, This is Beimie and Brazoban fault.
Alex, I agree.
*Beimel
Beimel out too soon…
Broxton out too late…
Who should be at fault????
OK WAKE ME UP!
this is insane!!!
and now derek lee will live to see another day…
Praise Jesus
Brazoban and Broxton and that’s it! 4 run lead turned into a 3 run deficit at least. Fault lies on the men who throw the pitches that were massacred!
FINALLY!
**** Abreu
and the guy who should have started the inning finished it…
i still think its grittle’s fault
oh c’mon abreu made the right play just didn’t get done right.
Yes he should have started the inning Fisher.
I think with the golf game day off the bullpen was in the shot zone….
no he should have tagged the runner..but its doesn’t matter.
why are there so many cubs fans. glad im not there to witness it.
My gut instinct was, Beimel wasn’t doing bad or anything, so why take him out?
But there was a righthander up. Last year Grady would have left him in; he didn’t use Beimel as a lefty only guy. Instead, though, he decided to “play the percentages.” Actual numbers reveal Murton’s hitting .258 against lefties and .295 against righties on the season.
Sigh.
This is the type of game we would be in all the time if it weren’t for our ‘usual’ great pitching…
Wow Seanez hasn’t pitch in a week. He’s was the fresh pitcher we should’ve used.
Three pitches.. three outs
Thats just great !!!
from one of the worst BP we look chitty from one of the Best they look great….and thats Baseball….Cubs were a heavy fav to win nl Central because of there hitting they are the underachiving team this year and that what I was afrid of with them coming in was that we always seem to have a bad habit of waking up good struggling teams…
oh god. Tomko is warming in the pen. It’s over. Goodnight.
but JS if Abreu goes for the tag /rundown the run scores with 2 outs. The play was @ 1st to make.Run scored anyways with no out…
Jeez, what happened? Why was Lowe taken out after only giving up 1 run in 6 innings and only 83 pitches?
Max only you could link a 7 run bullpen blowup possible loss to Tomko warming up in the pen….
He was Done after 6… lotsa pitches in the inn and runners he really did look done.
oh ok i get it…
lowe looked done. it was the right move to take him out.
If grady left him in and all that had started with Lowe in you would have had Fried Grady for midnight snacks….
C’mon Zoe we need some Martin Cheer!
Yes………..
thank god for martin!!! go martin go! wooo
lil Love for Gonzo here……
C’mon Rah Rah sis Boom Bah! Hit That ball n Run!!!
Big hit GONZO!!!
Yes……….
Murton was hitting .258 vs lefty and .298 vs right but I think Grady made the wrong choice pulling Beimel and should’ve try to get the dp.
woot! ok let’s keep it going…
COME ON ABREU!!!
Gotta Root em On!!!!
three run hr for abreu and a walk off? cool, lets do it.
Time for Redemption!!!!
BOOM BASE HIT!
Dang Patriot you beat me to it.
Oh **** YA!!!!!
lou starts to mumble to himself…
BRING IN THE KILLER TOMATO!!
C’mon Internet Power Swing!!!!!
ABREU RULES
Wow pinch hitting for Ethier? I’ll shut up if he hits it out GO TOMATO!!!
C’mon Zo Gotta Love The Big Tomato!
Abreu looks like a good hitter… He seems out of his comfort zone at 3rd base.. I wonder if he can play center field…
Sure would be nice..
2nd base
hmm ok Grady. Come on Saenz just get a hit in the gap.
*&%^#&^)(&)(&
well they’re making it interesting at least…
lol Alex don’t do that
YESSSS!!!!
KILLER TOMATO! COME ON LAROCHE!!!!
Groundball? WOW they were not expecting that!
haha it would be funny if laroche walks
WILD PITCH THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
**** YEAH!!! thata boy LAROCHE!! way to get the wild picth!
RAH RAH SIS BOOM BAH HIT THAT BALL AND RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LAROCHE WALKS!!!!!!!!!!!!
hahahahahahaha. he walks
WAY TO LOOK AT FOUR AWFUL PITCHES LAROCHE LOL!!!
How ugly would that be to lose this game for the cubs?YGG way to call it Zo!
LETS GO FURCAL!!!
HAHAHA LAROCHE WALKS! hahaha.
FURCAL!!!!
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSRAFFFFFFFFY
BASE HIT! ALL TIED UP! LETS KEEP IT GOING PIERRE! NOT A WORD MAX….lol
pinella’s post game is going to be awesome
Do You Believe This —-
Please Pierre – Just do it..
Just bloop it over their heads Pierre!
That’ll do!
THATS THE LEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
haha Pierre makes an other OUT! he *****!!
sarcasm. well he does **** but the context of this is sarcasm
Pierre need a triple bad. That’s all I wanted from him.
WTG JP!!!!!!!
C’mon Zo Give Nomar some love…….
WOW WHAT A GAME! LETS GO SAITO!
The first out and have to be a sf. I wanted a bases loaded triple.
……..Blame that on that freaky Nomar chick…..
Way to go Nomar — Sure know how to ruin a good party …
am i the only one who actually likes the nomar chick commercial? it cracks me up
They gotta pull that commercial…EEEEW there it is…….
lets go saito-san!
Yes yo are Zo she’s really scary….
yeah maybe they can replace it with one of me coming out of martin’s van…
ok LET’S GO SAITO!
you
man….i shoulda gone to the game tonight
lol that was my sugustion yesterday for what rolls outta who’s vans
is anyone scared at the moment?
I haven’t even processed the Cubs 7th inning yet! I have no clue what to feel right now!
BALL GAME!!!
WOW! *EXHALES*
Shut you down Buddy gonna shut you Down! Gotta lil buddy he’s called Saito Strikeout here w come he’s an oldy but a goodie Strikeout here we come! Game over and it was my Buddy Saito There you Go !
F’in A What a Game!
WTG EVERYONE Wow what can you say about an internet Rooting section?
Terrific comeback and ballgame. Love the Blue!
wow what happened to max? nothing positive to say? wtg team? you **** JP to flyout and tie the game???? Max?
oops sorry ment to say WIN the game go ahead run….
You may or may not believe me
But in that 8th inning, with JP @ bat, I told myself, Juan
YOU HAVE TO DO IT. If you don’t, Nomar will NOT. That is the Truth. ON my honor.
What a SUPER comeback..GO BLUE
wow did grady just say Abreu to 2nd tomorrow?
Pat believe it or not and I was gonna post it but steped back not to Jinx it but he is lifetime over .380 with bases loaded.
Poor Lou Pinella he soldout for money and now he can’t win he can’t win and he can’t win but then again with a 100+ winner he couldn’t win.
website says abreu to 2nd, betty to 3rd against big z tommorow.
wow, Zambrano has given up 12 bombs in 60 innings already
Boy That game was like surviving an arial attack. Good old fashin baseball, but we’re not use to that. Our bullpen had a bad night Except for Seanez & Saito. Brazoban went from 0.00 to 27.00 But the main thing is we won and we’re still in First Place.
Beimel didn’t have a bad night, he just got pulled to early.
But hey, they rallied back and got it back to Saito, so everything was all right.
Ok Hendy Vs Zambrano…First Hendy Vs Cubs Cubs have Fastball HR hitters Hendy throws alot of Junk and has been knocked around by junk hitters.Zamb Throws Alot of really hard stuff and the kids get really worked up on hitting hard stuff where the vets hit that stuff and usually hit it hard.Same game plan get thru the SP and hopefully with a lead and from hendy… Hope he saw his shrink 6 or 7 inns. Lockdown the kids no drinking for you tonight bullpen! Bad Bullpen Good Saito.. oldman…Who shuts em Down!Cubs are a Very talented underachiving team kinna like the Astros last few years but not quite the cards of last.Beat em every **** time and they won’t have that chance.We Split 6 with the Brew crew and I fully feel that now we are better and they had the Home opened advantage.
Tonight was alot of fun with the rest of you we probabley had a lil internet bubble goin but it worked and it was a POSITIVE DODGER BUBBLE goin.Lastyear we had the Nomar Pancho to Rally with but so far this year we have had ups n downs neg vs positive posts and alot of less infected Go Blue fans involved.Tonight we had a positive Internet Fan Rally going with a few Blogging in and viola’ we had a rally and won the game!…I’m not saying that an internet rally of positive vibes will always get the job done but it was a Helluvalot more fun then all the JP is gonna pop up Rants that has plauged this Blog and if you even try to toast my RAH RAH SIS BOOM BAH HIT THAT BALL AND RUN chant I’ll have to toast you in a broiler set at 1500F.I believe in the team and we should never had to deal with that but our Bullpen went south for 80proof or we drink the brewers reasons.JB was 4-6mph off on his fastball and everyone else but the oldman…Saito was off.Grady might have jumped the gun on Beimel because he has really been a great inn. pitcher and not used for just 1 situational batter for this season that I can remember.The whole thing was a Win for the Dodgers and a Loss for the cubs.Glad that all our cheers from the blog was answered with a WIN….
Go Blue 2007!!!!!
Hey Patriot? Who said Biemel had a bad game?Not gonna flog grady for pulling him nor Beimel for allowing a hit. Grady has a huge arsenial there and everybody needs work to stay sharp. I think grady was trying to move Beimel to a more sit.pos.arena and it didn’t work then he scrambled and fubar came around then we had to Give em Fubar in the face you guys **** we Rock Grady’s gonna win anyways team.
Man the Cubs BP ***!!! Gotta luv it.
Watching JP win it now…..again….
MARTIN to #3 Grady Tracy Moved Beltre from #8 to 3 or 4 in his career year….
It never rains in Southern California, but I have to say this was atrocious. a 5-1 lead, pull the starter and watch the bullpen have a massive meltdown. Not that it was all their fault, as the D (again) misfired.
Yeah, they won. Great. But they had to plow through the bullpen to do it, and had to scramble back after giving up 7 in the 7th.
Think of it like this. You’re trying to give yourself the best chance to win the most games. You have a starter who is basically cruising along. Let him pitch the 7th. Then you’re all prepared for the set up in the 8th, closer in the 9th. Let him get into some trouble in the 7th… not that he would have since he was doing fine to that point.
I’m really getting sick of these gambles, because every time Grady goes against rational baseball thinking, he gets burned and it takes a monumental effort to overcome it. Those efforts aren’t always there.
The trend is your friend. Go by the book and win, and don’t burn out the pen… you might really need them for the next game.
Was Great the first time but was just as great 2nd Broadcast!
did you watch Lowe? he was not doing well… Like I stated before he was looking Done.The Bullpen? The great Bullpen? They blew up Beimel braz Brox to lose 7 runs in 3 outs? C’mon…They were not 100% probably 80% proof…That was a hometaem at home with a day off oooh man we don’t feel good hangover blowup.Steroids are not the problem in baseball nor america.Rich *** Kids with a day off?They are human and do what we all do…Party time!Then they screw up and never realize that they are not allowed to.My wife and I make in 3 yrs + what 1 rookie does but it doesn’t matter and that’s why this team is long in vets. LA is too easy a city to get screwed up in.Too many Kids at once and all of em will get ****** into the void we all avoid.What did Straw do? Pulled it out and ****** it up….and I’m not saying our kids here are bad like that but the vets do certainaly provide guidance and stabilty for them.@ 20 I knew all I needed to Know @ 30 I was smarter then the rest @ 40 I know I was stupid when I was younger.@50 I’ll be a ***** but I’m only 40 now….
Guy’s comments above mine indicates he knows very little about baseball. ( seems like he might be a relative of Little)
“He was looking done”
please.. hes a sinkerballer type pitcher, they get better when they get tired, thats one.
2. winning bball is built around pitching and defense. so? Leave your pitcher in with a 4 run lead, let him work another and go from there. If Lowe asked to be pulled or said ” I’m done” different story. A better question and point to make is;
” why did he start Betemit at 3rd in Lowes last start?”
always put in your best infield defense with a groundball pitcher!!
I’ve said it before, I will say it again; Grady Little is by far the worst manager I have ever seen, PERIOD!! He does more or less to give his team the WORST CHANCE at winning a game, PERIOD!!
Delweine – with all your knowledge about sinkerball pitchers, it seems to me that in watching D. Lowe over the past few years, his sinker actually flattens out when he gets tired, because he overthrows.
I think it’s really difficult to question Grady over pitching moves with any accuracy. So far, he’s managed this bullpen pretty phenomenally – the bullpen ERA is indicative of that. Sure, there have been a few moves that have been questionable, but that can be said of EVERY manager over the course of 2 months. You can’t say “The bullpen ERA is great because of the great pitchers, not Grady” when they pitch well and “It’s Grady’s fault” when they give up runs. If he gets all the blame for last night, he gets all the credit for the great performances, too. You can’t have it both ways.
I didn’t watch Lowe pitch last night, but remember that he’s thrown CGs in 2 of his last 3 outings – maybe Grady wanted to give him a break since his team had a 4-run lead and he has a phenomenal bullpen behind him. It’s not a bad move, esp. with another off-day Monday to rest the ‘pen.
If Beimel/Broxton/Brazoban had let up a run or 2, no one would have been questioning these moves sincerely. The fact that they melted down – it *****. But at least we have our biggest bullpen meltdown of the year and come away with the win – that’s the really redeeming factor here.
If you’re looking for a reason to hate Grady, you’ll find it. Same can be said of 90% of managers in baseball.
Great response and overall comment, puppyhead. I’m not a fan of Grady’s, but you can’t micro-manage from the sidelines to the extent of picking at every on-field decision, and I’m very glad of the final outcome of this game. It’s nice to see one of these kind of games come out in favor of the Blue.
Now that we have two of our prospects vying for the third base job, I’ve looked at our minor league picture, and I’m getting concerned about what seems to be a lack of real OF prospects for the next couple of years. Aside from Bigbie, who will probably be gone by the end of next week, we don’t have anybody who’s hitting markedly over .300 and not with power. I would have liked to see Kemp back up here, but he’s not exactly burning up the AAA, and three HR is not much to brag about. It seems like we have decent prospects for the infield, but I don’t see much of that in the OF. We have to assume that Gonzo will be gone next year, and Ethier is not really showing us what he did last year, so this concern seems pretty real to me. Maybe we need to shop around for somebody else’s 1st or 2nd round picks the past couple of years to see if we can’t stock up some power hitting talent in our farm system.
Man, it took me forever to read all of these posts. It is great to see all of the passion.
A few personal observations that I would like to share with you guys who couldn’t make it to the Ravine:
Lowe pitched great, but he definitely needed to come out when he did. Not only was his sinker ball flattening out, but he was missing his spots and started to get the ball up in the zone, which is a recipe for disaster.
I do believe that Grady pulled Beimel too soon, but we have seen Beimel fall apart very quickly, of late, so I really can’t fault Grady for yanking him.
Brazoban did exactly what he used to do before his injury. He throws smoke, but it is flat smoke (i.e., very little movement on the ball). The Cubs are a very good hitting team and they jumped on his “flast” ball (flat fastball). He tried to sneak one of those flast balls past Soriano with a 1 and 2 count. The ball was up in the zone and Soriano roped it down the line. (That was the crusher, in my opinion). It would have been a great time for an off-speed pitch, if you ask me.
For the first time all season, Broxton also kept the ball up a little in the zone, which led to him getting shelled. Not a mechanical thing at all, just a location thing. He will be fine. (I’m not too sure about Brazoban).
Seanez was lights out. Like most of you, I always squirm in my seat a bit when he comes in, but his past several outings have been outstanding, and last night’s was no exception. His ball was moving very well and he kept it down.
And what can you say about Saito. He was, well, Saito. Although Dodger Stadium isn’t as electric as when Gagne used to come in, Saito is a close second. “Bad to the Bone” never sounded so good!
I am very disappointed that Grady is giving Kent the day off today (as has been reported). Kent is, hands down, our best power hitter right now and needs to be in the line-up. He had Thursday off and will have Monday off. This move could have devastating results for us today. I am not saying that Abreu can’t handle 2B, but Kent is our home run leader and we NEED home runs.
Regardless, it was an outstanding come-from-behind victory, and a great one to see in person.
Now, about today’s game – JUST WIN BABY!
GO DODGERS!
fisher i love your late night ost game ramblings,keep them up they are highly entertaining, ive never seen someone change subjects that quick before. what was up with your rant about steroids, and rich kids, and LA being easy to get screwed up in? you somehow managed to make a case that our whole team partied the night before, and therefore blew it because they had an off day at home? thats great!! these guys are professional ball players and im sure they have more than their fair share of fun. to try and blame the whole team for one questionable call grady made is laughable. kevin kennedy said it. i wonder if grady was listening to vin call the game, he was going on and on about georgia tech(nomar), matt murton being a college and minor league home run derby champ…and then boom grady comes out with the hook. what a coinkidink. matt murton wont even get 450 abs this year and we treated him like vlad guerrero. oh well thank goodness for saito, hes about as lights out as there is in MLB right now. on a side note that abreu error on that weak ground ball to third had rookie mistake written all over it, i dont think ive seen nomar miss a pick ever.
i totally agree fansince 53 about kent, hes locked in right now, i havent seen his splits vs big Z but they must be bad. one thing we didnt elaborate on was if kent was moving to first to spell nomar( we all know he could use it). then I wouldnt question it. but kent out of the lineup against a guy with a 6.00 era who is giving up bombs at a record pace doesnt sound right.
In my 71 yrs. of following, my BUMS, I don’t recall, EVER being so wired up after a game, like last night. I had to take a sleeping pill. I’ve been thru many nail biting games, in my yrs. BUT never, like last night. PS; I feel deep down in my heart, that Abreu is going to be the MAN.
He may not be the POWER guy we seek, but he will nail that
position , down. Bet on it.