Lineup
Pierre, CF
Furcal, SS
Nomar, 1B
Kent, 2B
Gonzo, LF
Lieberthal, C
Ethier, RF
Abreu, 3B
Kuo, P
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Pierre, CF
Furcal, SS
Nomar, 1B
Kent, 2B
Gonzo, LF
Lieberthal, C
Ethier, RF
Abreu, 3B
Kuo, P
Inside the Dodgers 
This is scary… no Russ!
Juan Pierre Redux
by Marc Normandin
It was assumed by many that Juan Pierre’s offense would dip further into the realms of awful when he signed with the Dodgers, but this beats even my negative expectations. Pierre is hitting .274/.307/.307 on the season, a 614 OPS. To put that into perspective, there are five players with slugging percentages higher than Pierre’s OPS. His Isolated Power figure of .033 is the 37th worst with at least 225 plate appearances in the past twenty-five seasons.
What surprises me is how Pierre has come to this line. He is hitting fewer groundballs than normal; in fact, he’s almost 10% below his average groundball rate from 2002-2006, and down 7.7% from last year’s 55.2%. Groundballs are the key to Pierre’s success; that’s how he gets his infield hits, which keeps his batting average up. Pierre is hitting more flyballs than he normally does in his career, which does two things: first, it generates an image of Willie Mays Hayes in my head, which is always a good time, and second, it makes me wonder if Pierre knows where it is he’s playing his home games.
Dodger Stadium is friendly to homers, but it deflates all other offensive batted-balls. This is why Derek Lowe is such a swell match for Chavez Ravine; he doesn’t give up many homers thanks to his sinking pitches and groundball tendencies, which work well in a park that allows a lot of homers, and the singles, doubles and triples he may have to worry about as a guy who puts a lot of balls into play are gobbled up by park factor goodness. Pierre is maybe attempting to take advantage of this aspect of his home field by hitting more flyballs. In the process though, he seems to have forgotten that he has just enough power to hit a home run every 360 at-bats over his career, and that his home run per flyball rate from 2002-2007 is all of 1.5%. Pierre has hit three flyballs to the warning track in his home games this year, and had a double reach the wall when it was fielded. The rest of them have fallen painfully short of any sort of “hard hit” or “long ball” label, as you can see on this chart from MLB.com:
Juan Pierre Hit Chart
The comp that keeps coming to mind for me is Julio Lugo in 2006, after he was dealt to the Dodgers. His finger injury sapped a lot of his power, but his batted-ball tendencies changed to that of a flyball hitter. He is another player who relies on his speed and groundball rate in order to hit as many singles as he does, and his tendency towards becoming more of a power hitter did him no good, considering his lack of power while injured. Pierre has even less power than Lugo—Pierre has an extra-base hit every 19 at-bats or so over his career, whereas Lugo gets one every 13 at-bats—and Pierre doesn’t display the patience Lugo does either. It doesn’t help that Pierre is down to 3.2 P/PA; that’s Randall Simon territory, which isn’t a compliment. He’s still getting his infield hits at the same rate as in previous years (13.7, 13.7 and 13.9 at-bats per infield hit the past three seasons) but the extra outs from the flyballs are bringing down his overall numbers.
Pierre has had some success in the past—success I’m not so sure he’ll ever find again, despite his paychecks and Ned Colletti’s confidence in him—and he’s certainly not going to recapture what little offensive value he once had if he’s trying to hit the ball in the air. His inability to take a pitch and draw a walk severely limits his ceiling year in and year out, and if he’s going to stop hitting the ball on the ground as often, you might as well just stick Brady Clark in center to satisfy your veteran fetish. At least he can play some defense, which Pierre cannot despite his speed, and let’s not forget his historically poor throwing either (hat tip, John Walsh). Colletti has done some good and some bad in his time as Dodger G.M., but this signing helps to erase a lot of good. If they end up missing out on the NL West title by a few games, you can blame Pierre’s lack of production for it.
it seems like when people are hot they get the day off.
martin now
kent like 1 week and a half ago…
y not give them a rest when they are stuggling and keep them in when they are hot.
i know they have “schedualed” days off but i think how hot the played should be the main factor when deciding to give people the day off.
dont get me wrong i like the idea of giving people rest especially older players and the catcher…
Nice summary on JP, and I’m sure accurate. Unfortunately we’re probably stuck with that for the duration of his contract, and management is intent on playing him every day and batting him high in the order, if not leadoff. If we had some power to compensate for JP further down in the order, it might help; otherwise, it takes too many base hits in any one inning to get our scoring up to a consistently winning standard.
We knew about Martin sitting before yesterday’s game, no biggie. It’s hard to take your best player out of the lineup but on this stretch of games it is a MUST because you know he won’t take off a game with San Diego, Toronto and New York coming up.
first-timer….
The lineup has holes starting at first base and so on and on. It just feels like a matter of time before we are five back but somehow are staff keeps us in it
After reading the cold hard facts about pathetic Pierre, it just makes me sick to my stomach to think he will be here for years to come..
Thanks Ned…
Like the article said, we would be better off playing anybody else in Pierre’s place.. Also said, that their is a good chance he could cost enough games to keep us out of the playoffs…
How Sad…
Welcome to the blog Ryan, here’s a quick catchup: we have Max, dodgerdude and rwbjr with their one-liners about how they want things changed, Grady/Pierre is awful, the second things go bad they jump on and point it out etc…believe me there is more, though they love this team, just wish they’d show it more. But I have no doubt they love this team otherwise they wouldn’t complain so darn much. It’s been old since February, but you gotta love their spunk lol. I’m the resident ‘positivity guy’ and I think the same things they do at times I just handle it all in a very different way and we clash A LOT! It’s fun stuff hope you stick around. There are a ton of other regulars on the blog and you’ll get to know them.
welcome ryandietzdodger
looks like a good lineup, wish I could see russ in there but he needs a day off. get em kuo, time for kent to break out of his little slump, big game from him.
Yeah, sometimes I come here and have to remind myself that the Dodgers are in first place! (Not that I’m not critical of the some aspects of the team, myself, but some of you could use some meditation or something.)
Also, DodgerDude, that’s a useful article on the Pierre debate but maybe next time just post a link? I’ve been one of the many who thought the Pierre signing was a waste of money but the fact is he’s our CF for at least awhile, and we all benefit when he does better. Even critics have to expect that he’s gotta do better than he did to start the year, and he’s started to do just that. He will always be a bad signing, but he can still help the team. I still see Kemp as more of a corner OFer than a CFer, but would love to see him up soon.
As for Martin resting, well, he’s not super human, the guy’s got to sit sometime, especially during a long stretch like this one. I’m sure we’ll see him PH tonight.
Here’s hoping for a good strong 5-6 innings from Kuo, though that may be too much to ask.
I also think Abreu should play for Kent tomorrow, have Betemit at third, Martin back in, and rest Kent.
Go Dodgers!
The website i got it from requires a paid subscription… thats why i had to post it.
ryandietzdodger:
Too bad this blog has degenerated to one person using several names to bash the Dodgers as Alex has pointed out. I use to post regularly as did many others. That’s when we were more supportive of the Dodgers, rather than bash every move incessantly. A few of the guys from last year are still aroung, but not many. Alex is always level-headed.
yeah bigblue…who knew stats and facts could be so negative.
bigblue…
Since when does criticizing and questioning decisions while providing solid statistical and factual support = bashing?
Just got this off Tony Jackson’s site:
Schmidt, after having had a successful bullpen session this afternoon, will be activated and start Tuesday’s game against SD. Hendrickson is now in the bullpen along with Tomko. Presumably Hull will be returned to Vegas.
Let’s get tonight’s game in the W column. We need it to regain first place outright.
GO DODGERS!
i would have liked to have seen Schmidt make atleast one more rehab start. But then again who wants Billingsley to start a game anyways. He’s pure garbage…
Ah, gotcha Dude. Sorry, thanks.
Good news about Schmidt – I hope they’re not rushing him back. But it’ll sure beat Hendy going out there again. They could have put Bills in there but why mess with success at this point of Schmidt is ready and Kuo is ready. If Kuo falters, though, I hope that Bills really is next in line.
The only comment on this line up is that I’m suprised that Libby is batting ahead of Ethier & Abreu. Is that because He’s older? First, I want to wish Abreu luck, as he works from inside that big crater. And also to Mr. Kuo, on his tryout for the 5th slot. I don’t want to jinx Takashi Saito, what he’s doing is better than a no-hitter(finger crossed). I would like to say to the MESSAGEBEARER, Sorry about all those Typing errors, I think I was a little suprised that other kids my age, play with toys. Yeah, I know this is no toy. Aren’t you glad they start games a little earlier nowadays? I feel sorry that Andy was sent down while he was playing against his brother, but I guess that’s the way the Tomko Kuos. Chad Billingsley, and people can take this , anyway they think, but I think this Longman, makes an attractive starting pitcher…..anywhere and he soon will be joined by Hendrickson, I hope they like to tango. A sad thought came to me, today, while I was in my LA cap. One time people use to give me a dirty look. Now I think the Dodgers are just another out of town team in B’klyn. GO GRADY’S GUYS & LETS SEE SOME of HRMARTIN.
Tomko and Hendy in the pen, who would have guessed that? 🙂
gonna be a long night…is it just me or when we get behind does it seem like we are not capable of coming back?
considering we are something like 6-28 when we don’t score first i;d have to say yes chinman. Chinaman…mmm big lebowski.
Surprise, surprise! Kuo still has control issues. I hope he didn’t unpack his suitcase.
it’s not even the record, but the whole team just looks like it’s over
this reminds me of the game Kuo started in ST agiants the Mets…man we are really going to burn our pen tonight!
wow…I don;t think i’ve seen a dumber base running mistake. Ethier could have peed on the infield from where he was and Sanchez went for it.
Maybe with that turn of luck things will go our way. Let’s start hitting.
wow the pads put up 6 in the first
fredy sanchez saved us from a disaster of a first inning.
Abreu is impressive.
Just to get this on record… although i wanted Bills to start this game, I support the decision to start Kuo… even if it goes bad.
Abreuuuu! I really like this guy – he makes things happen. He should be batting higher up, but that would probably hurt some veteran egos.
If abreu is going to play every day he should bat 2nd with Furcal first and Martin 3rd.
for the record…i thought billingsley should be in the rotation from day 1 of spring training.
dodgerdude
i’m going to clip your last post and save it. hope my heart can take you and grady being on the same page
Don’t look now, maybe Hong-Chih just had some first inning jitters…
For those actually watching this game, are those so called soft fly balls to center that fell for singles catchable?
No they were just perfectly placed singles, they didn’t even hit Kuo hard. And Kuo was wild and he got lucky cause Sanchez was an idiot.
Correction about my last post… I didn’t mean I want Kuo over Bills. I meant that I want Kuo or Bills over Tomko.
If you guys will notice, Kuo is using his wind-up. Last year, when he was dominating, he just used the stretch.
i think i remember that momoracci
Adam LaRoche looks horrible.
Kuo has been pretty good since the 1st, but he needs to throw more strikes (and first pitch strikes).
late to the party i see…
yeah i thought pirates fans hated him so why does laroche get a bobblehead night?
Would you be motivated to play ball if you got traded from the Braves to the Pirates for a relief pitcher? poor LaRoche brothers
he was so good last year…i don’t really get it, except for the fact he was hitting in the braves lineup v. the pirates lineup.
What a huge catch by Gonzo!! He just saved a run and at least a double. Fearless and running right at the wall. Big play!
Thank you Kevin, I waited and nothing from the usual suspects. Can you imagine if he didn’t make that play, we wouldn’t of heard the end of it. Must give praise when deserved and that was an amazing catch by Gonzo that may in the end be the reason we win if we can come back.
it was an amazing catch—props to him b/c that ball was absolutely crushed.
lol…”usual suspects” Alex seriously man. This is why i come back to this blog. It gives me a good giggle.
Gonzo made a great catch. He’s been playing well lately. We’ll see if he settles into a nice season after this hot streak he’s been in. If not Kemp should be called up. Power, Youth, Defense, Arm and YOUTH!
i no one’s offended when i say….bomb’s away!
Bomko sighting.
Bomko is terrible. What a ridiculous signing.
haha wasn’t the reason Kuo was starting is because if Bills did tomko would have to pitch after him…yeah.
Bombko should be DFA and we should call up Meloan.
i actually much prefer him to hendy out of the pen though, at least he can throw heat.
Simply put, Tomko being Tomko.
i know that sentence makes no sense but im not in the mood to make it make sense.
you mean tomko being bombko.
Tomko must have dirt on either Ned or Grady. That’s the only logical explanation I can see for why this guy is still wearing a Dodger uniform. I sincerely loathe him.
Furcal looks like he rolled his ankle. ****!
wow. The Pirates have ran themselves out of a blow out. First in the first inning and then twice in the 6th.
Is Jim Tracy still managing for the dodgers? Thanks skip!
Our only saving grace is that the Pirates really stink!
tracy might be somewhat to blame here…
Betemit over Martin in that spot?
Did anybody see an opportunity there to pinch hit with Martin?
Wow… Pierre strikes out… he’s supposed to be good at not striking out. He’s really playing bad even for his own low standards.
I wouldve gone either Martin or Killer Tomato. Why on earth send Tom Hanks’ volleyball up to the plate knowing you also have a sure out in the on deck circle. That might have been the ballgame right there.
Yes, it would be a great spot for Martin if he weren’t the backup catcher for the night. You just don’t pinch hit your backup catcher in the 7th.
Being Canadian, I love Russell in every game, every inning. Not only that, he is simply a good ball player, playing with high energy and enthusiasm. Tonight is his night off. It is risky to pinch hit a catcher just in case your starting catcher gets hurt. But, we might see him yet.
Yep if Martin ph and not used for defensive replacement and Mike get hurt who going to be our 3rd string catchers. You really wanted to save your backup catchers last. Betamit has been very effective in that ph role.
Betemit effective…. come on guys seriously. I know he’s had a few knocks phittin’, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.
backups catchers should be the last used off the bench. but anyone would be better then Betemit in that situation. Of course pinch hitting for Pierre would have been smart too.
We have what we have guys. The great thing for me is that my team has Dodgers on the uniform, the same Dodgers I have followed since 1952. It seems to me with the personnel we have, Grady does a pretty good job. How can the manager be expected to have every decision correct when the best hitters fail 7 out of 10 times and the best pitchers hardly win 20 games any more. The manager can only send them in. He can’t predict what they will do, only hope what they will do. I seem to be correct every time I make a game decision but that’s after the play is over. Grady doesn’t have that luxury. GO DODGERS!!
Raffy does his job and gets on and the heart of the order comes up and shows no heart.
Has anybody noticed that our cleanup hitter now has the lowest batting average among our regular starters?
Now for the ninth inning here is where you can use Martin, you pinch hit him for Lieberthal with Ethier and the red hot Abreu to follow and have Saenz waiting in the wings. That way if the game continues Martin just goes behind the plate.
Right on Alex. GO DODGERS!!
What a great two innings from Seanez!
GO DODGERS!
I was worried that Kuo would throw the game away, being rusty and all, and though he did squeak through his innings, he kept the game close.
I should have been worried about our offense instead, and all our veterans who know how to win and yet just can’t quite do it physically anymore!
Have to admit that one of Grady’s better decisions has been to keep Seanez on the staff.
Let’s go and do it in the ninth, Big Blue!
Hey stats guys…I’m not being critical here, but I’m really wondering if the Dodgers have won a start in which Lieberthal was the catcher. Can someone tell me the Ds’ record with Lieberthal starting?
Way to clutch up Rudy! That’s the right move now Alex… Put your rally caps on folks!
DAMMIT WE’RE HITTING IT SO GOOD AND RIGHT AT THEM!
puppy…i think they have won 1 game with him catching.
dang how many pitches did capps throw? 4? 5? the team collectively needs to be more patient at the plate. Me thinks eddie murry has a little to do with that. After Cleveland fired him they got a lot better.
Between the Dodgers lack of clutch hitting and the Pirates baserunning blunders, neither team deserved to win this game.
Wee Willy Keeler coined, “Hit it where they ain’t.” Easier said than done. Tomorrow’s another day. GO DODGERS!!
James Loney went 4 for 5 today… a couple of those hits wouldve come in handy in Pitt.
Pierre is an extreme out machine.
THAT GAME SNELLED Well a few more RBI and Abreu will be right there. I don’t where, but we shall see. Did you here the news Jason Schmidt will be back on Tuesday? LOOK OUT JASON’S BACK, a warning to the other 2 guys that are hanging around first place and the rest the enemy. Kuo ,one down and ,what is 8 to go? What ever happens, after next week, Let’s hope it’s good. COM’ON YA BUMS.
Hey guys, let’s send Hendy and Bomko to Chicago for Zambrano.He’s not the big hitter we’re looking for (since he pitches) but it seems he packs a pretty good punch,at least in the locker room!
Some people at ESPN think the Cubs will start winning now. If that happens, teams should all use bats to clunk each other over the head. You know it’s funny everybody around here is calling A-Rod, a bad boy. All I can say is this. We all no the SS is the king of the INF, Like the CF is in the OF. Okay that said, The report I read, was that HOWIE CLARK was “CAMPED” under the ball, now don’t we all know that, that mean that it was HIS BALL. If I was him, first, I would yell out “I GOT IT” and no SS, in his right mind, is going to tell me, to stop, what I am doing. If I heard somebody yell, I proberly, could get killed, but I would BRACE myself & just wait for the ball. If he ran into me, Who would look bad? This rule 2.00, which I never heard of has the word “CONFUSES” in it. Even a jerk like me couldn’t get confused. Well tomorrow, weather permitting I will be a Met fan (but I will be dress with my Dodger clothing), along with my daughter, and I’ll be ROOT ROOT ROOTING at Shea for them, to beat the SNAKES. Now I know what MLBTV stands for, My luck bad tv. Tonight it took an hour to get connected. But all I missed was Abreu’s RBI. Nothing else was important, to me.
wow that was incredibly incoherent pierreseastmeetswest
ok lets talk draft I think the tops picks in the first round will be pitchers, but matt la porta a power hitting 1b will be the dodgers pick at number 20.Nevin griffith will be next at 39, he is a rhp then from tampa fl. next at 87 will be a lhp from my home town of Lompoc Calif. named danny duffy. if he is gone, then we draft cole rohrbough, a lhp from western nevada cc
Great to see you posting again Harold. As always, your insight is very refreshing. On another note: Did you receive the item that I sent you?
Today’s was a game that we should have won. As noted by others, I hate not having Russell Martin in the line-up, but I understand his need for an occasional day off. Man his pinch-hit line drive out was roped! He is obviously seeing the ball very well right now. Keep it up kid!
I believe that the turning point of this game was when Wilson Betemit struck out with one out and runners on 2nd and 3rd. That would have been a great time for the Killer-T to pinch-hit. I was fearful that the Dodgers might mistake a few good pinch-hits by Betemit as a trend; which they did (as did I, to some degree). The good news is that Marlon Anderson is very close to returning from the DL, which may create some “issues” for Betemit.
You gotta love Tony Abreu. This kid is special and needs to play every day, although I’m a little concerned about his propensity to swing at the first pitch. Regardless, his 3 for 4, two-double performance was nice today.
We’ll get ’em tomorrow with Brad Penny on the hill for us!
GO DODGERS!
What did you say Dodgerdude? What I wrote was incoherent? well at least you understood it. While I was “listening” to what you guys were talking about, one thing was coherent and that is that some people think there is something wrong with Nomar Garciaparra, I have to agree. Although his RBI total of 32, looks pretty normal, It doesn’t make sence, that on June 2, he only has 1 HR. Could he be hurting and doesn’t want to come out of the lineup? because he’s afraid that James Loney might be brought up to replace him and goes on a tear? You know if any one likes to keep score, wasn’t the 6th inning for the Pirates crazy? Andy La Roche being thrown out 6 to 2 to 5 and then Ronnie Paulino gets it 2 to 5. It was good to do in a dull ballgame. I heard there were some earlier, but I had trouble getting on MLB TV. Well there is one more thing I got to say. I wanted the Dodgers to get Barry Zito, for 2 reasons. 1. Because I favored him over Schmidt. and 2. Because Zito is my mother’s maidan name. Lousy baseball stratergy, but it would have been interesting having my two family names on the team.
Excuse me I mean Adam LaRoche.
Me thinks eddie murry has a little to do with that. After Cleveland fired him they got a lot better.
I think you hit it on the button there, max_power_05.
i might have but then again who needs patience i mean this blog obviously thinks patience is overrated.
everyone should read sarah’s article…he points sound awfully familiar. Too bad she’s soooo negative with all her great points.
frank… i live in lompoc. have you seen duffy in person. i know his numbers look good but i actually played with him for a few years and i don’t know how happy i would be if we drafted him. i watched him strike out 17 this year but he also walked 5 and hit a batter in that game. and the one think that would really concern me about him is his mental makeup. having played with him i’ve seen him get real rattled. however he does have talent and if he can gain more controll he could turn out alright.
if i’m not mistaken we pick 20th and then again in the 30s.. i wouldn’t take him at 20 but i think he would still be on the board for our second pick.
that really cool to know there is another lompocian on the blog.
oh sorry i didn’t read all of that. you have duffy at 87… thats more like it. i saw on mlb that thought duffy was a possibility at 20 and i was lik eno way.
Ok gloves have to come off now. Nomar is nomore But I still have to feel that this was a planned lose with the mkeup of the game to rest the people that will win the next 2. 3 outta 4 is always great.Just looked like flat out gimme game. However we still kept it close so Nj Pirates get ready to slide yet again.Hitting needs a punch in the bats or a a fat lip in the face!
Enjoyed Sarah’s column and agreed with most of her points.
I feel Colletti will trade for a stick at some point, but will not allow the Dodgers to be robbed by giving up to many of the kids. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out: the lack of production makes me uneasy, but I want all of the kids in Blue.
Improving the defense really is a must. Their are those of us that can remember Dodger teams that won it all with pitching and defense. It doesn’t happen often, but it can be done.
These points made, I’d be curious to see what it would take to get Cabrera away from Fla.
NEWSFLASH Rodger Clemens is OFFICIALLY a Yankee. He injured his right groin yesterday and is completely knocked off schedule.
Thought Sarah’s piece was pretty much “right on”. When it comes to Colletti, I have much more faith in his ability to make a deal through free agency as compared to an actual trade. Compare getting Raffy, Wolf, and Schmidt (assuming he recovers fully), although Pierre was probably a panic induced and unwise transaction, to trading Duaner Sanchez, getting Hendrickson, Lugo, and maybe even Betemit. I don’t trust his ability when matched up against another GM in a trade.
I’m not worried so much about trading when you consider that almost everyone Ned has dealt are now playing terribly.
Jackson, Navarro, Seo, Guzman – they’re all miserable failures with the D-Rays.
Oh, I just read that Seo got DFA’d.
Today’s lineup from Gameday:
Furcal, SS
Pierre, CF
Nomar, 1B
Gonzo, LF
Martin, C
Ethier, RF
Abreu, 3B
Martinez, 2B
Penny, P
glad to see Ethier getting a start against a lefty.
I wouldn’t be feeling this game is hopeless if our offense was just a little better!
Here’s to hoping that Ned can arrange for a good stick for us somehow, without giving up the farm.
We don’t need a big stick because we have Pierre “wreaking havoc” on the basepaths. *laughs*
Does anybody think that Grady will ever find the guts to sit Pierre out for a game. I suppose that Pierre is contending for some kind of longevity record (certainly not a productivity record), and a manager dare not disrupt that. In any case, batting Pierre and Nomar in succession pretty much eliminates scoring in that particular inning. I would really like to see LONEY!
The double barrel out machines (Pierre and Nomar) will ALWAYS bat in the top 3. We just have to deal with it.
Kent is the third barrel on that out-machine, the way he’s going lately. Furcal is slumping too.
Well, we just have to deal with it. The reality of this team is that on many days even scoring a single run will be too much to ask of its lineup. That’s just what we have, we gotta live with it. Poor pitchers, who has to be perfect or else the game is more than likely lost.
that home plate umpire is a little biatch
Can anybody give me a reason why Martinez is still carried on this team, other than he and Colletti share a Giants’ history together. Even Valdez would be a better utility player this year – at least create more excitement on the bases. The same for Clark – Kemp would at least provide some hope in his place.
I think you just answered your own question there.
Here’s a good source for possible trades info… http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/
We can not let SD land Adam Dunn… we gotta go after this guy!
yeah but w/ Dunn remember he’d prob. be replacing Ethier and then we’d have three incompetent outfielders instead of two.
our lineup needs a major overhaul. I wish grady wasn’t an id iot.
One-liner that doesn’t help at all…Here’s something that helps:
Furcal
Abreu
Martin
Kent
Nomar
Gonzo
Ethier
Pierre
That’s the lineup needed right now based off what I’ve been seeing of late.
Abreu is the real deal. It’s pretty funny that some were upset when he was called up.
I would give my left nut if Pierre took a walk
That’ll do and I keep my nut! YES! lol
alex i’ve posted that line up in here before and on tony jacksons blog. so please don’t say one liners don’t help. A trade won’t worth with out a lineup overhaul which will never happen.
Yeah the difference is when you suggest it you come off like an a$$h0le
lol alex my boy…lol
take some **** pitches
please !!!
Lets go Bills keep us in it
now whenever bills comes out, i can’t help but look at his tree trunk legs…thanks max
let’s go bills!
Alex, your line-up has 3 left hand hitters in a row I hope you realize you lose all credibility when you post a lineup with such an obvious flaw.
You know what else is an obvious flaw not scoring runs
ETHIER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ETHIER! YES!!!! 5-4 DODGERS CLUTCH SHOT OFF MY FAVORITE PLAYER SOLOMON TORRES! THANKS AGAIN BUDDY!
ETHIER!!!
the bottom end of the lineup, the good part as i like to call it, won this game for us.
BOMBA! atta boy Andre!
I was going to make a comment before the inning started that THIS was the heart of the lineup and they all just came through!
yes! my boy Billingsley is gonna get the win!
freaking betemit! why did you swing at the first pitch!!
that right porch at PNC sure is nice for left handed hitters…
Is there anyway somebody can find out Broxton’s ERA when he starts an inning and we have the lead?
I think he’s only given up one run all year in that situation
Pierre is undeniably attrocious.
Oh god oh god oh god oh god Please be nothing oh god oh god oh god
im guessing he pulled his hamstring. ****.
Now we have a serious problem maybe in this game but more importantly overall
Bills and Broxton our new 8th and 9th guys. It’ll be all right.
Yeah, we’ll just see about that if he goes to the DL. I think some of us really forget what Saito does for this team. And we take him for granted.
The best case is it’s just a cramp from dehydration like Schmidt had earlier in the year. Worst case like what Max said is a hamstring pull or groin strain/tear etc…
Nice battle by Beimel to get this game locked up. We’re going to need that kind of performance from a whole committee of our relief guys if Saito goes down for any length of time. Nice comeback Blue!
its not a tear. If he tore it he would have been on the ground and limping much more. I think he just tweaked it or pulled his left hamstring. If you notice after he did it he rub his glove on it for an instant. Hopefully its just a cramp thugh but i don’t see saito pitching the rest of the road trip thats for sure.
It is surprising how we do take Saito for granted. He came out of the woodwork last year, great move by management, and has been dominant. A real competitor. Hopefully it is minor because it disrupts the whole bullpen but as was mentioned earlier in the year, our pitching staff can deal with injuries better than most staffs in MLB because of what Ned has built.
Way to go Ethier and rally starter Martin. I like Abreu hitting doubles making good contact. What’s your best guess Alex? If Sammi has to go the DL who comes up? I wish Greg Miller had found the strike zone. He would then either be an option for the Dodgers or in a trade for a 3B power hitter. I say go with 11 pitchers and bring up James Loney. Kemp probably wouldn’t play much in OF. Ethier needs to play regularly. GO DODGERS!!
I didn’t know you guys were all trainers and/or doctors?
What does “woodwork” mean?
Jonathon Meloan.
Big Bad Jon part duex. Agreed on Meloan.
kemp is on fire in vegas… 3-3 today w/ a 2B. i wish there was a way to bring him up. It’s a little frightening how we’ve had multiple relievers go down the last week or so… I don’t think they’ll use meloan but if we keep emptying vegas of relievers he’ll be in vegas soon for sure.
Nobody will be brought up if Saito goes on the DL. Schmidt is coming back in 2 days.
Unless they want to exchange Hull for Meloan.
Yeah that’s what I was going to say beat me to it Momoracci, also once Tsao is ready Hull goes back to Vegas.
if saito is DLed everyone moved up a spot in the pen…i guess bills would be the setup guy but that leaves bombko and hendy in middle relief–that’s a little scary.
Well it is the left hamstring according to Rick Monday no idea if it’s a pull/strain etc…
we should DFA bombko.
Hendy was great in middle relief this year – I’m glad to see him go back, let’s hope he can regain his early-season form there.
Good, scrappy win today. Too bad about Saito – let’s just all hope it’s very, very minor, like 7 days inactive minor. I don’t even want him going on the 15-day DL to make room for a kid, because I don’t want Saito gone for that long…
Also, Brad Penny pitched sick so he wasn’t 100% he was dealing with allergies and vomited before the game.
This Saito injury is a crushing blow. His confidence will be seriously missed, although Bill’s and Brox’s confidence is also very strong. I agree with momoracci – Schmidt will replace Saito on the roster, especially with Hendrickson in the pen now.
I am very concerned for Saito and pray for his speedy recovery. A hamstring (or groin) injury can take quite a while to heal properly. Man we are going to miss him. Come on Broxton – This is what you have been groomed for. Take the ball and run with it kid!
Great come-from-behind win today boys! Keep it going!
GO DODGERS!
From Tony Jackson:
Takashi Saito does not have a tear in his left hamstring, which tightened up on him in the ninth inning and forced him out of the game. But he won’t know anything more than that until today, so it isn’t clear how much time he will miss. Grady hinted, in that typically Grady way, that Jonathan Broxton will close in Saito’s absence if there is an absence. More on this issue tomorrow.
I spent the afternoon at a quiet Shea, watching the D’backs down the Mets, what made it sader was the scoreboard showed the Pards way ahead of the Nats and the Pirates had a big 4 to the Dodgers 0 in the 6th. Ollie Perez went through the Snakes order once,perfectly, then he seemed to lose it. I notice Doug Davis has a pickoff move almost as good as Andy Pettitte. Then suddenly a 1 showed up on the scoreboard in the 7th for the Dodgers. I yelled “I got a run” Then it was a 2, then a 3. I saw we went ahead in the 8th and that was making my day. My daughter,a Met fan, was saddened when we left Shea. But she was happy again, when we watch the Cubs beat the Mets,on T.V. and so was I, at our final score of 5-4 to beat the Pirates. Now all this joy leaves me when I get this news about Saito. Man I hope He’s o.k. This would be a BIG loss. I was kind of suprised at Beimel getting the save but I didn’t learn about Saito until now. Lets GO DODGERS. COM’ON SAITO, heel fast.
Ditto on Saito— i think in the long run he will be alright.
People can say what they will about Grady, but the players love him and thats really what counts..
It was great to see Grady stand up to the home plate umpire and not back down on that BS call at the plate. The replay showed that Martin tagged Nady on the head (thus knocking his helmet off) before Nady’s foot MISSED the plate. Thanks for taking one for the team Grady!
GO DODGERS!
Furcal – after a slow start he’s back to his old self
Pierre – not much you can say about him. Leads the team in hits but leads the league in outs and is barely getting on base. Pierre = an offensive black hole
Nomar – no power. He’s driving in runs but he looks tired or hutt.
Kent – He’s been in a horrible slump this road trip. He could snap out of it but the only reason he’s batting clean up is because he’;s hitting home runs.
Gonzo – he walks alot which is nice but its not that important for a 5 spot hitter. He’s been hot lately but he should be batting a head of martin.
Martin – our MVP, best player and heart and soul. Yet he bats sixth.
Abreu – He’s done well since his call up. Grady obviously favored Abreu over LaRoche from the get go and Abreu is taking advantage.
Ethier – after a slow start he got his sweet swing together but is buried way down at the 8th spot
basically our 4 best hitters right now are Furcal, Martin, Abreu and Either. They should really be higher. ITs kind of hard to score early when your best shot of scoring comes up in the second and third inning.
Everyone should read Sarah Morris’ article. She hits the nail right on the head.
I just read Ken Gurnick’s take: Dodgers rally late… I won’t take a breather on Saito until I see him pitch, but we know it’s a leg , not an arm injury, so that’s better. He’s a gem. and in my opinion, He’s the greatest replacement for Gagne, that we could ever ask for. This one man, (If you differ with me, well that’s your opinion & you’re entitle to it) is the most important reason we are in a 3-way first place tie. He’s not the only reason, but the most important reason. for all this teams faults, he make up for it. For our strength, right now, is in our pitching, a very important part of this game.
Saito>Russ???
No Saito is not Greater then Martin but they are equally valuable to this team winning games.If Martin doesn’t keep us in the game and saito doesn’t Shut it down then we lose.Saito is soo overlooked in the people that ned has signed that are performing as well or better then expacted Probably the Best Signing he has made in performance to $$$ ratio a super sabre signing if you like.We have had what 15-20 3rd basemen try since Beltre left and Abreu is Doing the job with as much class and ability as any 2B can do This Kid is the real deal but people still whine about LaRoche’s upside and Prospect Ranking….He still needs some work and his cup O coffee might bring him full circle.Max I must urge you yet again to Step away from the Crack pipe…You Say Furcal is back to his old self??? His Hitting is Sooo far below his past that he makes JP look good.He has always had sock and this year except for a Flash of Great hitting he is still so much farther behind his numbers then JP and only has a handfull of stolen bases.JP Needs to step it up Yes But you can’t say that without including Furcal in the same sentance.Missed todays game….Too Much Funclub Lastnight after watching a sorry loss at a Sportsbar or 2 with the ole lady.Great Comeback win for the Team and in The Toughest Division 100 Wins between the first 3 teams.
Go Blue!!!
This from the Diamond Daily on ESPN.com. Not very specific, but some good news it seems:
“• Dodgers closer Takashi Saito was pulled from the ninth inning of Sunday’s game in Pittsburgh with a tight left hamstring, but the problem is not believed to be serious.”
I’m sure in the next 24 hours we’ll hear more specific news, but this is what I could find so far.
I agree with both pierreseastmeetswest and fisher928. I do not believe that Saito is more valuable to the team than Russell Martin, but he is equally responsible for the Dodgers being in first place for nearly the entire season thus far.
Although not as electric when entering the game as Gagne was, I always get a very warm and fuzzy feeling when Saito enters the game. His self-confidence is magnetic and brings the team and fans together. Although I do not want to jinx him by saying it, he is almost “automatic”. (Hey – There’s an idea for his entrance song – “Automatic” by the Pointer Sisters). PLEASE HURRY BACK SAMMY!!!
As for Russell Martin, well… he’s just… Russell Martin. What else can you say. (Hmmm? How about NL MVP Russell Martin? I LIKE it!).
Let’s make it 3 of 4 from the Bucs today boys!
GO DODGERS!
wow…is the sky falling? im pretty sure i read alex admit pierre needs to bat 8th!!! step 1 alex is admitting you have a problem, you got that out of the way. i didnt get to witness pathetic pierre’s patheticness this weekend, but it sounded pretty bad. i agree with dodgerdude as well regarding my man kuo, he should have started, and from what it seems like he settled down but he was at 96 pitches and grady was playing it safe. i think kuo can be dominant, once he gets his stamina and is more efficiant with the offspeed stuff. he can be good, but the way bills has been pitching hes looked as advertised. with that arsenal of pitches he can be a 1 or 2 no doubt. lowe should keep us in this game with his usual, lets hope Jp gets a day off against the lefty. at this point his numbers against leftys are screaming PLATOON!!!
Can I just say that Saturday’s lineup should’ve had Lieberthal batting 8 with Ethier 5, Gonzo 6, Abreu 7. Why won’t Grady play Andre up in the lineup?!?!?!? He should be batting 2 with JP 8! More patience, more power, better contact, and better ball control. He can play the ball to all fields. Then Rafael Furcal steals more, advances more, and scores more. I’m going to go ahead and put my proverbial foot in my mouth as far as my pre-season statements go and say that JP is a curse for us right now. I’d really rather see Kemp or Andre in center. Sure, Kemp doesn’t take any better routes to balls than Pierre does, but at least he’s got an arm to make up for it a bit. Andre’s not as fast as either of them, but his routes are great, his arm is solid, and he makes the plays.
Well a week vacation in HOT Palm Springs and im back at work using my time to VOTE 4 MARTIN and read up on all that i have missed on the blog.
I would like to first say hello and welcome to ryan all the way up top there. I also like the post of alex laying out the guidelines on who are the bad guys and who are the good guys. lol (no offense bad guys!) As for my self i still see my self as a rookie on this blog because i only recently started blogging a couple months ago and some like to point that out as some of my post dont have the substance as those veterans like Alex or Fansince or Fisher and others not mentioned… But i must say that i enjoy seeing the opinions of those who post here even though some might make my head hurt but i know its a blog i am fascinated by those who post here. I hope in the future i can grab a drink or a hot dog with some of you who attend the games. (Dont worry not in a man-crush kind of way) It always nice to meet fellow Dodger Lovers!!!! Dont worry fansince i havent forgotten about my root(beer)!
Now on to this past weekends game i had to rely on ESPN highlights (which are hard to come by seeing as they are so EAST COAST biast) which didnt depict the way the game went. I must say though the string of injuries we have come across this past week kind of scare me kind of reminds of the 05 season when we fell apart half way down the season?! Lets hope hings dont work out that way. Im glad to see we put our selves in position to take the first two series of teh road trip and i am deffinately looking foward to watch the whole game tonite! I must ask though how Kuo looked on Saturday, as i said i had to rely on highlight reels which did not show much?! I look forward to the different post i will see in response.
GO DODGERS!!!!!
GO DEREK!! (i forsee another quality start for Derek today and i hope we continue to see our boys rock the lefties on the mound)
How about the kid Abreu he is showing Grady and Ned made the right decision on keeping him around! I look forward to seeing him contribute to our winning ways!
Speaking of east coast bias, where would we be without all those televised Sox/Yanks games?
I suggested an ESPN WEST. Not that they would do such a thing.
Keeping my fingers crossed for Sammy!!!!
Hey dahustlasbac – Kuo had a very shaky first inning, but settled down nicely after that. Unfortunately, the damage was already done and our offense fell asleep. It has to be frustrating for guys like Lowe, Hendrickson, Kuo, and even Penny in yesterday’s game to see the offense score more than five on days that they are not pitching and then score only one or two on days that they are (or in Penny’s case, score them when he is out of the game/decision).
Just say the word and that (root)beer is yours!
GO DODGERS!
Thanks for the info FanSince yeah i would def be frustrated to but hey all they can do is make quality starts and hope there team can help them win the game! Thats why i love this team you dont here anything about talk between the players being all negative and pointing fingers. In serveral articles this year we have seen our players get behind each other in situations just like the one about Lowe’s CG and Nomar going up to him and letting him know he pitched a **** of a game!
I just feel for those who are Yankee’s fans or Chicago Cubs fans to see what there teams are going through!
I can feel for the Cubs they deserve a winner !! But the Yankees, they deserve to lose and lose big !!! Steinbrenner does nothing for the game except raise the cost of living and put the little guy out of reach of it.
Go Dodgers !!!
dahustlasbac…
the reason you don’t here any whining from this dodger team is because they’re in first place… Winning is the cure-all. Winning creates chemistry, not the other way around. Russ Martin is by far more important to this team than Saito… we can deal with Saito being out for a while because our pen is strong. If Martin gets hurt we’re screwed. Saito was by far Ned’s best signing, but i’d say it was mostly a lucky signing, but i’ll still give him credit for it… which leads me to wonder, how could he possibly make such a bad singing with Pierre?
“…which leads me to wonder, how could he possibly make such a bad singing with Pierre?”
That’s simple: It was as I understand (and I’ve read it here several times within the comments on this blog, of which I completely agree and support), that Ned Colletti suffered at the time from an acute “knee-jerk” affliction when reading that Pierre was about to sign with his Homies up in San Francisco.
As most know, the “knee-jerk” affliction is a serious medical condition where the patient makes sudden, quick and often times irrational decisions, without fully researching all of the factors which would make such a decision viable. Such factors that might be otherwise compared include:
-Does “player X” throw worse than my kid sister?
-Does “player X” have an OBP lower than most little-leaguers, especially if “player X” is a leadoff type player?
-Does “player X” know what “ball four” is?
-Does “player X” know the difference between a fly ball and a home run?
These are common types of questions an MLB General Manager might ask himself when not confronted with a “knee-jerk” affliction. In most cases, the “see I told you so” side-effect won’t rectify such irrational decisions… and perhaps might make symptoms worse. Probable causes of the “knee-jerk” affliction can in some cases be attributed to lack of experience or the possiblity of mental impairment. The “knee-jerk” affliction is treatable in most cases with proper medication. Ask your Doctor or Phmacologist if you might suffer from Acute “knee-jert” affliction.
In other words, Colletti screwed up big-time with this one and now we’re stuck with Juan Pierre for FIVE YEARS… while successfully blocking the development of Matt Kemp!
Ouch…
Go Dodgers!!
Go Colletti!! This might be your worst decision ever… but you’ve still done well with the Dodgers since you took over. Now let’s find room for Matt Kemp and James Loney on this team.
Ooooh… multiple misspellings abound…
singing = signing
Phmacologist = Pharmacologist
“knee-jert” = “knee-jerk”
Too funny Kevin! Man you have WAY too much time on your hands – LOL! I actually liked the “singing” part. That would be JP singing “We’re in the money”.
Thanks for the mid-day laugh.
GO DODGERS!
well put kssparkuhl