Ramon Martinez's back
You can either read the apostrophe above as a discussion about his back or that he "is" back. Either way, you’re right, and he’s in the lineup today. D.J. Houlton was optioned to Triple-A to make room for him. Here’s the lineup for the first-half finale:
Furcal, SS
Pierre, CF
Martin, C
Gonzo, LF
Nomar, 3B
Loney, 1B
Kemp, RF
Martinez, 2B
Hendrickson, P
Inside the Dodgers 
How about sending Tomko or Hendrickson down or out… At least D.J. hasn’t given us a reason to send him down yet…
I have to tell you, I’m normally not negative when it comes to the Dodgers…I’m quite patient, but I’ve had it with those two pitchers and yes JP ***** too…everytime he hits a flyball, he should sit out a game…
We should start a new topic of conversation.
Fill in the rest of this sentence:
Everytime JP hits a fly ball ____________________.
Here is my next installment. Everytime JP hits a fly ball, he should pay back the organization $100.
Can someone explain how such a putrid player like Juan Pierre gets to play every single day?
Do Ned Small or Grady Little even realize how much most Dodgers fans cannot stand Pierre?
We should stage a Pirate-like walkout because Pierre plays every day…
$15 parking and add ticket prices to that just to walk out? No thanks…
Joy.
Stay positive my friends, you’ll go crazy if you don’t during a losing streak, which happen to all teams. I seem to remember a very long streak of losses one year ago. Chin up things will come around, they always do. In fact some of you should go into the archives from July of last season, it was a dark time indeed, what’s scary is a lot of the type of comments made around that time are being made when we were winning this season. What’s happened to this blog?
It’s “good” to see Martinez back again. Otherwise we might get overbalanced with our younger players, and that would not be Grady’s or Colletti’s style – heaven forbid.
yeah, thank goodness martinez is back!!! uh, yeah.
Dodgers could really use a 12 man pitching staff more than having 2 utility infielders on the roster with the way things have been going through this rough stretch.
Juan “expletive” Pierre… sigh…
they should give kemp a shot in CF and give jp a rest man.
we see that guy eeevveryday!
gonzo-lf
cf-kemp
rf-ethier
really if they’re going to bring ramon back send abreu down already—its long overdue.
agreed jspelk
Does anyone know what our Payroll is at?
Payroll is about $110 million
Quit ******** about JP. If he should get fined for popping out, Nomar should get fined for swinging at the first pitch every time. 4 at bats last night and he saw a total of 5 pitches?
Dodgers: $108,454,524
By comparison:
Tigers: $ 95,180,369
Cubs: $ 99,670,332
Red Sox: $143,026,214
Brewers: $ 70,986,500
Angels: $109,251,333
Indians: $61,673,267
Padres: $ 58,110,567
D’Backs:$ 52,067,546
Mets: $115,231,663
Yankees: $189,639,045
SO what to watch… dodger game or MLB futures game?
Futures Game. Kershaw is pitching, as you know.
How about futures game on the computer, Dodger game on the TV
Here is what i really want to discuss though: We have to be able to get Buerhle without giving away top-top flight prospects. Ken Williams would be crazy to not take a package of Kuo, Meloan, Betemit/Hu/Young/ even LaRoche… I think we still might end up getting this guy…. Any thoughts?
kershaw or lurch…hmmm. it would be nice to know what time he’s pitching though since im not really interested in the game as a whole.
i don’t think so ewk. Why would he want Kuo? He’s injured now and has no consistency. Meloan sure. They already have a good 3b prospect so no to Betemit/LaRoche. Hu they might be interested since apparently they’re interested in Lugo, and thus insane.
They might want Kuo bc he has potential and they might want LaRoche or Betemit bc no doubt they can turn them around again for something they do need. LaRoche and Betemit are both young and with lots of potential; if the Sox cant use them they could definately use them as chips for something they do need. Its not like they are competing for anything this season anyway… And its not like they are going to get anything overwhelming for half a season of Buerhle.
Dodgers need 12 pitchers but they don’t need 12 pitchers today. Houlton wasn’t going to pitch today anyway after pitching Friday and Sat.I’m surprised they didn’t send Stults down as well to get some work in over the AS break.
FYI : They just slated Clayton to pitch the 7th inning…. probably…
and Hu is hitting in the 2 spot for the World team…
Hu just hit a double with a RBI
Hu is AWESOME.
OMG, Justin Upton has one heck of an arm.
Buerhle just signed an extension!
what happened to Miggy and Kemp?
quit giving gonzo the 3-0 green light lol
Anybody else think its’s strange that Miggy and Kemp left the game around the same time?
“quit giving gonzo the 3-0 green light lol”
seriously!!!!!!!!!
Yahoo Sports reports that Miggy left due to a jammed shoulder, and Kemp left due to an undisclosed injury.
On the Dodgers.com game thread people said Cabrera hurt his shoulder. Good thinf Kemp came out so Andre could hit the homerun but why?
Why do people post here during the game? wouldn’t it be better if there was one place for intragame comments? I would appreciate replies.
“Anybody else think its’s strange that Miggy and Kemp left the game around the same time?”
i do and i also think its weird that Larry Beinfest flew out to LA just for this game. Also, Ned Colletti was going to go watch Kershaw and Hu and the futures game but canceled his trip last minute.
OMG KEMP ISN’T ON THE ACTIVE ROSTER ANYMORE!!!
Buerhle re-signing is FANTASTIC news.
What are you talking about Max? Kemp is still on the active roster.
They are both hurt. No trade unfortunately!
hahah i know.
im bored thats what im taking about.
balls flying out of DS on a day game as usual…get lurch out of there and use everyone else for an inning!
Hu looks good!
Nomar continues to BEAT THE COVER OFF THE BALL….. Yuk Yuk …
Ethier having a good day… Too bad its’ at the cost of losing Kemp to injury… (hopefully not serious)
Ethier and Kemp need to be in the lineup at the same time sometimes. Grady should consider a platoon of Kemp and Pierre. Pierre against lefties is even worse then he is against righties. Its obviously we’d be better off minus Pierre but that will never happen.
Is it a coincidence that the one day we finally string all of out hits together and score runs is the same day Kent isn’t in the middle of the lineup?
JP ain’t sitting down. Quit suggesting that. He never has and never will.
Scurtis —-
Do you think that is a good thing or a bad thing or are you just being apathetic…..
I don’t have a problem with it. Paying him the big bucks, might as well keep him in there. It would be a disaster if Kemp played CF. Don’t worry, Ethier will be in LF next year with JP in CF and Kemp in RF as the everyday starters.
JP is solid. I don’t mind him.
I think you are probably right….. Of course, if we make a trade that involves any of them, that could change things… I really don’t see that happening though…
“JP is solid”…. *****…..
Alrighty then!
I just wish we had some power in this lineup.
This team has a $110,000,000 payroll….
We now have 2 pinch hitters — one is batting .159 & the other is batting .206….
Is that the best we can do for Gods Sakes …..
We all need a drink!
Yes… We very much need a power hitter in the outfield and/or at 3rd base or 1st base…. Just very hard to come by without giving up the farm….
But I do forsee Ned making some moves in the very near future…. Just hope they are for the better without giving away the young talent that we now have…
Happy All Star Break!!!
Yes – Happy All Star Break….
I Bet we will have lots to talk about when we come back after the break… The next few days could be very interesting….
According to the Daily News(N.Y.) TOMKO was starting today’s game(they proberbly didn’t know & just placed in a name). While I was at the feast I dropped into church to prayer for Tomko. God must have said, “I’ll do you one better I won’t even make him start”. It’s great to have two HRS in a game and neither were solo. I’m returning to the feast and I hope the Pards lose by the time I get back. In case anybody doesn’t know The Dodgers who are 49-40 at the break were only 46-42 last year. I heard Kemp was hurt(hamstring?), let’s hope it’s not serious. Well let’s enjoy the break and pull for the NL so the Dodgers will get home field advantage(don’t say you heard it here first) in the WS.
Hu looked really impressive today. His numbers in double-A are even more impressive. Id say he takes over for Furcal in a couple of years.
He certainly did, and congrats to him for being named MVP… very nice article about it on mlb.com… Does anyone know where a box score for the game is? I know Clayton gave up a bomb, but he only pitched 2/3 innings, or so i heard…. anyone watch it care to give us a play by play??
JP, what’s the deal with getting on him. the only thing that gets me with him is he’s terrible with RISP but other than that he’s pretty solid, has the most hits for the dodgers over 100 already and plays great defense. let’s hope for a great 2nd half…Go Dodgers!
getting on JP happens everyday on this blog…..along with Nomar, Ned, Grady….Just watch for times when we lose. That’s when all **** breaks lose and people find anyone to blame.
When we win, like today…the bashing stops..as shown above…
Sad how Dodger fans are rooting against their own players, and sometimes, goes out of their way to do so….
Rooting against their own players? Dude, they get paid millions of dollars to play a game; why should they be exempt from criticism when they do poorly? I’m sure if you mess up at your job you would get reprimanded by your boss or customers. We are the paying customers of the product the dodgers sell. We have the right to criticize what they do. Don’t put them on a pedestal; you care more about them then they ever will about you.
All-Star Break 1st half wrapup:
List of teams who have less wins than us in the National League at the All-Star Break:
Mets, Braves, Phillies, Marlins, Nationals, Cubs, Cardinals, Pirates, Astros, Reds, D’Backs, Rockies, Giants
List of teams who have the same amount of wins as us in the National League at the All-Star Break:
Brewers and Padres
List of teams who have more wins than us in the National League at the All-Star Break: Nobody
One game behind San Diego in the Western Division (2 in the loss column)
Two games ahead of Atlanta in the Wild Card
The bumpy rollercoaster is only half-way finished…Go Dodgers!
“Don’t put them on a pedestal”
that reminds me of 40 year old virgin…
ewk…Kershaw gave up the bomb but was still rather impressive. His fastball was around 93-96 and his curve was sick. He gave up the home run on a change up the guy literally hit off of his shows. It was impressive. I can’t wait to see him and Bills 1-2 in 3 or 4 years.
All you have to look at is Pierre’s obp to realize how horrible of a year he’s having. His BA is around .280 which is solid but his obp is only 30 points higher and .311. A .311 OBP for anyone is pathetic not to mention a top of the order guy.
I still think this isn’t understood in this group. Pierre is only valuable to us when he gets on base. You guys always bring up the points off…We’ll he steals bases and scores runs well DUH. How else do you think he does that? by getting on base.
League average OBP is .330 he’s not even average and a good lead off hitter wants to obp around .350-.360 and great ones are .380-.400. Furcal will come around to his career numbers but Pierre is on pace for a career worst season. Also did you guys see how Furcal got forced out at second AGAIN today by Pierre. If you want your answer to why Furcal hasn’t scored as many runs as Pierre well theres your answer.
dodgerdude– i feel bad for you. You put it perfectly though; it/you really all make sense now.
It is not simply a product– it is a part of my heart. You compare it to a working place scenario, whereas i think of it as a family thing. ie. If you sister does something that is annoying, you still love her. The beautiful part about sports is that you care so much about the team without them knowing you at all– it is the very essence of being a fan. You love your team– you get upset when they lose but you do not rant about it like no tomorrow Granted there are circumstances where said ranting is necessary, but with this team it is all nitpicking and microanalyzing.
I for you put them on the highest pedastal i have.
for one put****
OBP is all you have to work with His Fld Pct. is Very solid with only 3 errors and he leads this team in Hits Runs Scored Bases stolen and triples if he were the leadoff guy I might be concerned however our leadoff guy makes about 6 million dollars more a year and gets forced out at 2nd because his wheels don’t turn quick enough….JP is a leadoff hitter but bats second and would have more stolen bases if The 13 million dollar man wasn’t blocking him when they both get on base….not to mention Furcal leads this team in errors with 12.I hope Hu is ready when Raffy’s contract is up because we pay wayyy too much for the poor performance he is turning in this year.But Schmidt is the Bum of the Year winner Hands down for $/performance.Jp is hitting near .350 over his last 10 games and should be in the leadoff spot after the break.Get off the JP rant its old and doesn’t hold water when you go beyond the obp. and say leadoff hitter in the same sentance….
Fisher man…did you even read what i wrote?
Furcal can’t steal or score runs because of Pierre. Pierre is impatient therefore Furcal can’t get a good pitch count to steal on and Pierre forces Furcal out ALOT at second base. Also Furcal’s hurt.
Tell me how Pierre scores runs…tell me how he steals bases…he has to be on base to do that. Do you understand that?
If Pierre got on base at an average clip he’d have more steals and more runs scored and also that would help Furcal as well.
Furcal and Pierre have had back to back singles in one inning only about 3 times this year. Just 3 times. That means every other time Furcal has gotten on base Pierre had either forced him out in the innings or popped out/struck out/ ETC.
If Pierre walked more he would be a MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH better player. Pierre’s job isn’t to drive in runs so don;t give me that **** about “a hit is better” because in Pierre’s case all he hits is singles.
The more times Pierre gets on base the more likey he is to steal a base and score a run. Is that not understood? Please tell you understand that so i can stop typing this same mother freaking thing again. PLease tell me you understand. PLEASE
“gets forced out at 2nd because his wheels don’t turn quick enough.”
you really can’t believe that? can you?…
I have had this thought multiple times over the season watching Pierre. I feel the Dodgers should invest in Brett Butler as a special coach for him (unfortunatly I think he works for the D-Backs). Even though Brett is a Jeff Kent type, he really helped Jose Offerman when they were with the Dodgers (OBP not fielding). I remember early in 1991 Offerman was a free swinger like Pierre is today. Butler, who got tired of not being able to work his way around the bases worked with him and he ended up being quite good at getting on base, now fielding was a different story.
By the way-
To the guy who says he is a good fielder: 3 errors for a weak arm outfielder is like 25 errors for a strong arm shortstop which Furcal is. Pierre’s head moves so much when he tracks a fly ball it is amazing he can see it enough to catch it.
It is hard for me to bash the guy because he really seems to care which is better than a certain former Dodger who now plays in the AL East.
Pierre apparently works harder than anybody out there. I respect him for that. Apparently he’s a pretty likeable guy too.
The problem is he’s not a lot better than a lot of good little leaguers. Many times he gets horrible reads on fly balls & even with his speed doesn’t get to a lot that other CF’s get. If he does get there, it’s a 50-50 chance that he’ll drop it or misjudge it on tough plays.
His arm is HORRIBLE. Not just really bad, HORRIBLE. Runners always take the extra base and can tag up on any ball he catches, anywhere.
He runs fast, but last night for example, he didn’t tag at second on a pretty deep ball to the outfield that was obviously going to be caught.
To use his speed he has to be on base, but is allergic to taking pitches and walking. He doesn’t bunt nearly enough for a guy with his skill set. When Furcal gets on ahead of him, why not bunt half the time? Even if they know it’s coming it’s still a pseudo-sacrifice and many times he’ll get on base, force a bad throw, etc. MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN! Don’t just hit a fly ball or ground ball that forces Furcal.
Of course, if Little had a backbone like a former Dodger I know managing down the road, JP would be ordered to play the game the way his skill set dictates and the way that best helps the team.
Furcal needs to start running even if his ankle is not 100% or else he just need to be out of that lead off spot. It ***** that all leading SB guy have to bat 2nd.
You’re right Lewis. I’ve always thought that it would be better for the Dodgers to lead off with Pierre & follow up with Furcal. Furcal gets many more extra base hits and I believe is a better situational hitter. The problem, I think is that JP doesn’t get on base enough. I’d still like to see both of those guys, but especially Pierre, bunt and slap a little more. It will get the defenses shifting & moving and open up some holes and rush them into bad plays.
Wow! Ground Hog Day even when we win.
Now you guys have four full days to beat up on Pierre, Nomar, Grady, Ned, the washed up old vets, Tomko (ok, so he deserves it), not playing the kids (oops, never mind), etc., etc., etc.
You guys are too much. lol!
GO DODGERS!
Kershaw is a REALLY big kid. His fastball sits at 95 MPH and with age, could get even faster.
His potential is limitless.
hmmmm Pathetic
http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2007/07/06/giants-fans-created-computer-program-to-rig-online-all-star-vote/
I wonder if Selig read this yet but than again it was posted 3 days ago. They really needs to do something about this now.
Pierre’s arm is worse than that of a dead fish. Which has no arm. But his fielding is actually quite good. Here’s a quote from a DT article about JP’s zone rating:
“Juan Pierre scores surprisingly high on the defensive statistics published by The Hardball Times. Pierre is the No. 7 center fielder in THT’s Zone Rating, which it obtains from Baseball Info Solutions. According to the numbers, Pierre has converted 144 of 158 balls in his zone into outs, while also grabbing 36 balls out of (his) zone, or OOZ. And that’s good.
Surprised by this, I asked THT’s Dave Studeman about how the numbers conflicted with how bad Pierre looks to my naked eye. Essentially, the statistical evidence is that too much has been made of Pierre’s balltracking shortcomings.”
You can read the whole article here:
http://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/708617.html
Learn about zone rating (ZR) here:
http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/dialed_in/discussion/what_is_zone_rating/
http://com3.runboard.com/boardsfgiantsfans.f5.t13841
**** cheating Giants fans.
Old-Fogey–Thanks for the tip on the Loney song. Everyone has been complaining that the last line did not rhyme (something, to be honest, that we did not even think of at the time), but your suggestion is very good.
I am hoping that Kemp is OK (can we get an update???), and assuming that they figured better to take him out early and let him rest over the All-Star Break than to risk something.
I know a lot of people think that he should be starting in CF over Pierre. I love Kemp, but understand why he is not in there everyday. He is still raw–he has some bad at-bats, gets too anxious, and still learning to hit the off-speed pitch. But unlike last year where it was unclear if he would be able to hit it, it seems it’s a matter of time now. But he just needs to learn and mature. He’s going to break into superstar status sometime between August of this year and August next year, and until then, I understand why he is not out there every day (I won’t get caught up for now in the JP debate).
One other injury note–I really thought they should have sat Furcal yesterday and give him Friday off too. He’s going to be the difference if we are to win the West, and giving him a full week off the ankle would have helped. Hopefully, the time off that he gets will do it.
Here are Kenny Loftons numbers compared to Pierres from this year.
Lofton:
.301/.386/.431 53 runs scored 81 hits 13 doubles 6 home runs 37BB 25K 20SB
Pierre: .282/.311/.338 52 runs scored 105 hits 13 doubles 0 home runs 15BB 24K 34SB
now notice how Pierre has more hits? But his OBP and BA are lower then Loftons…Thats because Lofton walks. Also notice how Lofton has one more run scored then Pierre? Thats because Loftons OBP is off the charts.
Id take Kenny Lofton over Juan Pierre any day. The fact that Ned took a 5 year 44 million dollar deal to an overrated player instead of an 1 year 8 million dollar deal for a guy who can obviously still get it done unlike the rest of his “veteran” signings is ridiculous.
I think that those stats do not take in account how fast Pierre is. His “zone” should be larger than another outfielder due to his speed. His routes are rarely crisp if ever… can anyone really remember him looking routine on a fly out? It always seems to be an adventure.
I have read all about his workout regimine maybe he works too hard on hitting. If you work on it all the time it is going to make you that much more anxious(sp?) to swing the bat. He is a front foot swinger he should be able to sit and read the pitch better.
I watch too many games on the internet so maybe I am not the best to state this but do the Dodgers ever hit and run? I only say this because with Pierre and Nomar it would seem like a great strategy to open up the field.
never-the-less, go Dodgers, here’s to them putting the hitting, fielding, and pitching together. cheers.
PS to ESPN- Do you think you just might maybe notice that there are other teams outside of NY and NE? Maybe if baseball would step in and make them show other teams baseball would grow like football.
If Kemp isn’t ready to go by Friday, we might see Delwyn Young up. He’s smoking the ball right now.
“His “zone” should be larger than another outfielder due to his speed.”
It should be but it is not because of how poorly he reads balls.
The Sky is Blue.
No player’s zone is bigger in zone rating; that would ruin the whole point of ZR, which is to find an objective stat which defines defensive range. He’s 7th best among CFs; who cares if you think he takes ugly routes, he gets to more balls out of zone than all the rest of them.