Chatter
It looks like there was some good chatter yesterday among you all while we were flying here to Cincinnati. Read through most of it this morning and glad to see that a lot of people have not yet started waving the white flag. There were some good posts with some good thought put into them. No doubt, this team is in a funk and needs to turn things around quickly. Hopefully today is the start of that turnaround.
Speaking of chatter, if you’d like to ask questions directly of Ned, he’ll be hosting an online chat today at 2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. local time here in Cincinnati to try and answer some of your questions and concerns. We had originally scheduled this to come after the trade deadline so that he could talk about whatever trades were or weren’t made, but the timing is pretty good, anyway, given all that’s happening of late.
The lineup will follow later this afternoon. And yes, Clayton Kershaw was promoted to Double-A Jacksonville.
UPDATE: Lineup for today –
Furcal, SS
Pierre, CF
Martin, C
Kent, 2B
Gonzo, LF
Nomar, 3B
Ethier, RF
Loney, 1B
Hendrickson, P
Inside the Dodgers 
In case I can’t make the chat, ask Ned how come he traded one of the Dodgers only power bats for a very used middle reliver, and left a very bad bench in the process.
I really hope Ned comes up with honest answers and not cliches. I get the feeling he’s gonna get some tough questions from disappointed Dodger fans. Bring your A Game Ned.
to add to your question fleigel, why did he choose to trade for proctor without giving meloan a shot?
eric byrnes and the diamondbacks agreed to a three year thirty million dollar contract extension. i know this just ruined momoracci’s day……now that is getting bang for your buck. sigh…..
You’re right graffiti; very disappointing news. Byrnes is a heckuva player and I would have loved to see his energy in a Dodger uni.
i think byrnes signed the contract becoz the dbacks are in 1st place…
coz back when they are in 3rd place he was so hesitant…
does he really think that the dbacks can still be a first place team next year and that they can match with the dodgers next year?
the only ingredients that the dodgers lack is a power bat and if we can get one we are all set to win a championship…
Byrnes sees something special building in Arizona, so he took himself off the free agent market by re-signing with the Snakes. This pretty much makes Carlos Quentin expendable. They also have Carlos Gonzalez waiting in the wings as well.
BTW, LaRoche played last night, had two plate appearances, struck out both times and came out of the game.
I think a good way to frame the Betemit to the Yankees question would be to question Ned in the following fashion…
Mr Colletti: How come the Yankees who have the most powerful lineup in baseball play Betemit all over the lineup to get his BAT IN THE LINEUP and the Dodgers who have one of the least powerful lineups in baseball could not find a spot for him?
Follow Up:
The Yankees biggest roster hole is Relief Pitching, yet they traded Proctor to the Dodgers despite no need for a power bat?
Not to mention that Kent was hurt before Betemit was traded and Abreu cannot play, yet you still trade Betemit, thus forcing Grady to play Martinez.
Things that make you scratch your head!
Why would anyone want Byrnes for $30 million when you already have Pierre for $44 million…
Hey van, you asked if the DBacks believe that they can hang with the Dodgers next year? Well they were not suppose to hang with them this year. The DBack team is not an impressive one at all, but, they play good team ball and they come up with very timely hitting. Oh and they have a power bat of the bench..Tony Clark. Other than that they’re not a very good team….
JP: 277/314/331…66runs..127 hits..27 rbi.
EB: 303/365/497…68 runs..135 hits..64 rbi
JP: 44 sb’s 9 cs zero homers 22 walks
EB: 28 sb’s 6 cs plus 17 HR’s 41 walks
which production would you rather have for that money?
im really frustrated that LaRoche is not yet in the Majors…
this guy need some experience…
august and september experience…
and i hope the team could get into the playoffs so he can also get a playoff experience…
There is definitely a discount from Byrnes in that contract. If he tested the market he probably would have received more. But, he’s happy where he is and I respect that. That free agent OF market is shrinking and shrinking by the day.
the d backs are a fine team kiper04. for the resources they have josh byrnes has done a fabulous job.
It seems to me that if the Dodgers had brought up LaRoche 10 days ago, he would be working on his 7th or 8th straight start at 3rd and Nomar would be starting at 2nd and we would not be 4 games out. Anyone agree?
graffiti, i agree with you on the Dbacks, i’m in Arizona so i see them play daily, but you know what the difference is? They play their young players and they believe in them. The Dodgers, Grady Little, are always quick to praise their kids but don’t give them the opportunity on a daily basis..
the dbacks change their lineup that’s why they are winning…
grady did it alot of times, but he’s putting 2 guys who is hitting a low average…
the lineup is our problem…
he can’t make decision who will protect his hottest hitters…
i post this the 3rd time…
Lineup:(let’s say JP takes a dayoff… i hope
..lol)
Furcal…SS
Martin…C
Loney… 1B
Kent… 2B
Nomar…3B
Ethier…RF
Gonzo… LF
Kemp… CF
gonzo will understand why he hits 7th… he knows he is struggling and old…
and he is the perfect fit to protect ethier in the lineup…
I would agree with that if it weren’t for LaRoche’s back injury. We also cannot assume if he played if he would’ve had any success. So, while I agree calling up LaRoche and moving Nomar to 2nd was a good idea, one that I brought up last week, there’s no way of knowing if LaRoche would have made a difference.
Prediction for the actual lineup today:
Furcal
Pierre
Martin
Kent
Gonzo
Nomar
Loney
Ethier
Hendrickson
Another day passes and the lineup stays the same, but I must say, with Kent in the lineup it looks much much better than the past week.
I like that lineup van..and alex, there is no way of knowing if LaRoche would have made a difference but i give you this, Martinez was 1 for the series and left 8 runners in scoring position.. you don’t think LaRoche and Nomar would have been worth 1 hit and a couple of runs? Remember we lost 2 games by 1 run.. just my opinion.
alex,
so u think martinez made a difference…?
coz i would choose LaRoche at 3rd so Nomar can be at 2nd…
i think LaRoche would be more productive than martinez….
I would love to agree with you…a healthy LaRoche, maybe, but the way we were hitting, nothing was going to happen for us this weekend. Do not get me wrong if you give me a choice of playing LaRoche’s bat or Martinez’s…LaRoche all the way. Martinez is a designated glove to me, he’s useful, but when an injury takes place, he’s a major liability with the bat.
Piazza has cleared waivers, how about Mike off the bench? Oh well, just a thought.
what a bizarre world we live in huh alex? a fantastic GM like coletti paying top dollar for the fourth worse OPS in baseball. and then we have guys like josh byrnes putting playoff teams together for 50 mil who actually get some bang for the buck. these are the type of moves that can gain some support. it is just flat out hard to support JP’s contract. the d backs sign a far superior player who even actually plays this thing called defense for the exact same money two years less. go figure no wonder we are where we are. our GM has had his head up his rear since he signed juan in november. we have gone from contender to pretender in a matter of months. thanks for us having to worry about the colorado rockies ned.
martinez is a designated glove who cant even make a routine throw to home plate anymore. i say we should have designated that glove for assignment some time ago….
Meh, there’s no defense of the contract. He’d probably be the first to tell you that. He overpaid, but don’t knock Pierre’s defense, it’s been tremendous over the past two months plus. You can knock him for his lack of OBP, though he has more walks in the last two weeks than Gonzo and Kemp (that’s with inflating Kemp’s AB’s to match Pierre during the time period), but his defense has been top notch. It’s impossible to support a deal that is so obviously overpaid, but it’s a subject that’s well documented. But, he’s doing what he was paid to do, get hits, provide good defense and steal bases.
alex,
i think we don’t really have problem on hitting the ball…
the situational hitting is our problem… we left alot of runners in scoring position…
with that being said the lineup is the biggest problem…
how could you bat martinez at 7th while ethier is hitting 8th?
and i would have chose nomar over Gonzo in the cleanup spot… coz Nomar is clutch.. he knows how to deliver some runs…
in addition alex…
JP in the dbacks series has 4 strike outs…
and he is one of the toughest to strike out rayt?…
so that means he is struggling badly…
Why, Martinez 7th, Ethier 8th, Left, right, left, right, left, right. That’s it. Had nothing to do with talent.
Ryan Freel was put on the DL today for the Reds.
the dodgers has always hit the ball hard against left handers…
u know ethier can hit left handers, so why would u even bother about that?
i should have said that…
left, right, left, right… doesn’t matter…
coz everyone in the lineup can hit…
and the fact that ethier can hit anything and can hit to anyone…
Well let’s hope that with Kent back in the line up we don’t have to worry about Martinez anymore. If memory serves me correctly, wasn’t in Cincinatti last year where the Dodgers won their first 3 games of that long winning streak that took us from 3rd to 1st? I need a little help here, but i believe it was, Maddux made his debut, so ….
Piazza would be a good potential pinch hitting addition, but you’d have to DFA Saenz in order to do that. Does anybody think that our management is ready to admit that the Tomato is over-ripe yet and do that?
i think ur right kiper…
im trying to think of that winning streak too…
i really think it started against the reds then the nationals…
van, it did start in Cincy, we got swept at home by the Mets and Cards, then we went on the road and swept the Reds and the Nats.. yessir.
i hope we can get a winning streak again..
Go Dodgers..
Hopefully Kent is back today. Isn’t it strange that the Dodgers went into the slump when he got hurt?? We should go with Van’s or Alex’s lineup and see what happens. Brad is optimistic that this is where the tide turns. Go Dodger Blue!!!
Kent is back
Ethier batting 7th
i have an idea for grady…
If Kent is in the lineup today why not give russell a dayoff… he deserves to rest…
hendi is pitching today.. he’s not hard to catch so i think Lieberthal should go and catch today….
we’ll be fine if kent is back and ethier hits higher than the 8th spot…
oh… im just about to say…
and now there is the lineup…
so my suggestion is worthless…
he should have given russell one more day to rest…
Russell does need a day off to rest his ankle but Lieberthal can’t hit like Russell. We need the hits.
van_19_cute@yahoo.com
“the only ingredients that the dodgers lack is a power bat and if we can get one we are all set to win a championship”
HAHAHA…HA,,,HA… HA… wow I can’t stop laughing… you think they can wil a championship with Bombko and Hendjerkson in the rotation… and your bench players batting a combined .210, + having a spotty bullpen with 2 washed up has beens (Hernandez and Seanez in case you were wondering what has beens I was talking about), and relying on 4 key people in the line up with less than 2 full years of major league service (Kemp, Ethier, Loney, and Martin) in the lineup almost everyday… and the 1st / 3rb basemen with less homers than some pitchers (up until a couple of weeks ago). Thanks for the laugh because I really needed it… oh by the way… At least we have our prospects… WHAT A JOKE!
+ a gimpy MArtin at that…
You have a lot of good points bigpapaduck but Russell is not a gimp. He plays all out not matter what. He’s an all star player and there’s good reason. You can’t deny that.
bigpapaduck,
well i thought everyone hate having tomko in the lineup…
why would i repeat it? for a guy like u…
it’s common sense…
we already have pitching but the starters are injured…
so if we can get a power bat next year we are set to win a championship…
bigpapaduck
i was talking about next year…
im not talking about this year…
bigpapaduck is a troll. He will not respond to any of your comments.
well if he’s looking at the comments right now i can only say that he makes me laugh too…
he’s got some taste on choosing name… lol
If this lineup, sans the slumping Kemp and with Kent back in there, can’t get it done, we really need to start lookin’ for the ol’ white flag.
Weather the storm guys! There’s still a lot of games left to play. The team is just hitting a rough patch at the moment. All teams go through their hot & cold streaks and we just happen to hit the Snakes when they’re hot while the Padres & us are hitting a cold spell. We’ll turn it around. (I just hope that we’re not buried to deep by then.) Perhaps a change of city scenery will help to spur some success.
Ethier is batting 7th, which is good, but why has Loney been dropped to 8th? I know that he’s in a slump, but
GO DODGERS!!!
defense isn’t just catching the ball. My mom could go first to third on our out machine
—
but don’t knock Pierre’s defense, it’s been tremendous over the past two months plus.
White flag!?
Dude, there’s still 51 games left to play. Any team can get hot or cold, so anything can happen. (The only certainties are that Barry Bonds is a cheat & that his Gnats will finish in last place!)
Don’t throw in the towel. I will NEVER give up on my teams…no matter what!
“The team is just hitting a rough patch at the moment. All teams go through their hot & cold streaks and we just happen to hit the Snakes when they’re hot while the Padres & us are hitting a cold spell. ”
sward1971@yahoo.com
the point is… there is no room for slumping…
we have a tight race here… and if one team struggles u would be left behind…
i think this lineup is much better than what grady put all season long…
ethier deserves to bat 7th and either Loney and gonzo is a perfect fit to protect him…
“defense isn’t just catching the ball. My mom could go first to third on our out machine”
thank you jason! I was just about to point that out. Juan Pierre is a liability in center field and in the lineup.
i wish i could stick around for the colletti chat but i can’t. I hope he doesn’t give us fluff.
I hope Logan White has a chat session before the season is over. I’d call in sick for that! It’s always nice talking to a genius.
For the money that they are paying Pierre, he’s not gonna sit and they’re not going to experiment with him at the bottom of the line up, so we may as well get over that. Pierre is here to stay for a while and we just have to learn to live with him and to take advantage of his up side, mmmmmmmmmm, stealing bases. The Dodgers offense should not revolve around Pierre anyways, it should start with Furcal.
pray for Ethier’s bat to continue and for Loney to get hot!!!! That would be some funny stuff to watch pitchers try to figure out why they would want to pitch around ethier to get to loney. Loney just has to prove it to them again. I have a good feeling about the game tonight. Having Kent in the lineup is certainly helping me be optimistic.
why not move pierre to the #1 position… he has about as many rbis as a normal #1 hitter. Sad thing is that he’s been hitting behind furcal who has the ability to score from first on a double.
kiper,
u know furcal is hurt right?
and that’s one of the reason why JP is hitting 2nd…
I am aware of Furcal being hurt, but i’m not the one suggesting that he bat elsewhere. I’m the one suggesting we get used to him where he is.
van,
I don’t have a real problem with Pierre, i think when he gets on base he can be disruptive. I don’t believe he’s worth the money they’re paying him and i certainly don’t think he’s a player who effects the outcome of a season either way. He is a decent fielder he is a singles hitter and a base stealer. He is a good complimentary player, if the Dodgers had some real superstars….
well i agree that we need to get use of seeing JP in the lineup…
but with this offense sometimes it is not bad to give him a dayoff…
the thing is grady wants him there everyday in the whole year…
he keep saying he is trying to shake things up… but his shaking things up is putting saenz and martinez in the lineup…
This year has just been marred by injuries. If we can get the entire squad out there healthy for next season, things will look good. There are a couple personnel changes that need to be made, so it will be interesting to see what that looks like. Nomar is only 34, far from retirement. So him retiring is not likely. Im sure we could utilize him off the bench as a utility infielder… platooning and getting regular playing time so the others can get some time off. We need to stop blocking LaRoche, Kemp needs a little more maturation. Get Meloan up to the show, move hendrickson to the pen, let Tomko go, even though he has given us bare requirements for quality starts over his last few appearances. LaRoche would probably provide a good hitter in the 5 spot, just gotta find that guy to bat clean up if kent retires.
a troll… ouch now that hurt… :)… van… now next year… hmm… I’d like to think 1 power bat would do it… we need at least 2 good SP’s too… we’ve got Penny, Billingsley, and Lowe (i think). Then who else… don’t count on Schmidthead… Wolf barks up the wrong tree in the 2nd half (2 years running) Bombko… need I say more about him… same for Hendjerkson… 6-10 and can only throw an 85mph fastball. ugh!!! So by my count we need the following for next year…
2 SP’s Santana anyone… (he plays a mean guitar too…) and a trade for a mid grade pitcher…
Bench… I think Gonzo could serve well on the bench and in the clubhouse…
1 power hitter… (Konerko possibly… by the way thanks to Tommy for dumping him for Jeff Shaw – what a piece of work that was – but thats for another time)
what about 2nd base… Abrewho??? or is it Hu’s on second…
3rd… hmm the black hole since Beltre left… (remember those MVP chants)
call me a troll or whatevver but I’m not as blindsided as some… I don’t know but this team is not just 1 free agent away from anything.
ned said if andy is healthy he should have been here…
4 days after the betemit trade he should have called andy before he injured his back…
it’s his fault… if he called andy earlier he should have prevented the injury…
this makes me sick…
all lies…
I don’t really want to hear any longer that Furcal is playing hurt. There was a good opportunity to DL him around the All Star break and bring up Hu to handle short for that spell. I thought it would be a good move, because Furcal at 100% could make a big difference for our ballclub. Management and probably Furcal did not want to do that, and now we’re going to hear how Furcal is playing with his ankle still hurting. Seeing as he’s a top paid player with us, that doesn’t cut it for me, if indeed he is still hurting. It’s just another management failure to handle personnel. At this rate Furcal will have been playing hurt for over one half of the time of his contract. Bravo, Grady, Colletti and Conte!!! What else is new!!!
bigpapaduck,
that’s called jealousy…
u want to have a power house team… like the yankees and redsox…
yeah a power house can win alot of games…
but in the playoffs specially in the world series talent is not the thing you need to show… it’s ur emotion…
maybe ur forgetting that the cardinals won last years WS…
they only have 1 power bat that time… albert pujols…
and the pitching they only have one real ace… chris carpenter… Weaver is like tomko…
this dodger team has alot of emotions… that’s what it takes to win WS… ur willingness to win…
wether u believe it or not…
it is what it is…
Is the LIVE CHAT only for people living in LA or on the West Coast? Can anyone from New York, the East Coast or anywhere else actually TYPE in that so called BOX?
Ned seems to be answering some very easy and friendly questions. I find it hard to believe that no one is hitting with harder questions than that. I’ve submitted a couple of straight forward questions and have not been acknowledged….
This is my second try___It welcomes me__but I am completely SHUT OUT. I just can not TYPE into the BOX.
Well did anybody come away feeling better about the Dodgers after reading what Ned had to say??
He took nothing but softball questions. Nothing but a PR guy, through and through.
did someone see my question?
im gelomac…
i ask him about JP…
he seems a little offended…
i ask him if signing JP is a mistake… lol…
Boy I finally found out what BOX they meant. But I think it was to late to get an answer. I was on there since 2 o’clock. Well at least I finally know how to ask a question. Next time I’ll know.
I joined the chat late, did Ned say anything of substance at all during the chat?
The hard questions are never usually put on there.
Yeah nice question about JP dude! HA
I never get mine answered.
I asked tough questions myself and was ignored. I guess he doesn’t want to deal with the tough questions we have. One of my questions was regarding not being active on the waiver wire. Arizona hasn’t made flashy moves, but solid ones nonetheless that has improved their bench and needs.
van what did he say?
I asked Ned the questions about Betemit and JP and Tomko Saenz and Martinez. Of course he wouldn’t answer those. I also asked him if he wants the kids to get experience how come Kemp and Either don’t play everyday? Guess what, no answer to those.
I’m sure that someone is there picking out the appropriate questions and typing the answers. I had fairly innocent questions at another live session and nothing was answered. I think that they don’t want to offend anyone.
The chat wasn’t very informative and he gave very vague answers. Pretty disappointed, but I guess this was what to be expected.
No. I only read a few answers but his explanation for pierre was weak. It’s too soon to evaluate him? Its not too soon. His skills are going to improve as he gets older, considering he only has one skill speed. Its too bad about LaRoche being injured b/c he definitely could of helped, but no one can really complain that he hasn’t been called up because he is ailing. Did anyone ask about Meloan and why he isn’t up yet in favor of grandfather hernandez?
*his skills aren’t going to improve, lol
i was really frustrated when he answer one of the question about LaRoche…
he said that if andy is healthy he should have been here…
what frustrates me really is
after the betemit trade they wait and wait and wait until LaRoche hurt his back…
and now they need to wait more time to call him up…
someone did ask about Meloan and Ned mentioned that they hoped he could get some time at the show this year. That was why he had been promoted to AAA recently. Nothing about why he isnt up for hernandez though.
just realize that Neds position is very much like a politician. There is a lot going on and he knows that there are people who are not out there, so like all politicians, he is only going to take the softball questions.
he said that he expects JP to hit 200 hits and 50 stolen base a year…
and he also said in a defense mode… that if the team had been really successful this year the hate with JP might not been this strong…
oops, i meant to say that he realizes there are a lot of people out there who do not like him
i’ll give u an advice in this chat thing…
u need to submit ur question earlier than 2pm…
well im sure he sees the issue with JP in the same manner as Family Guy portrayed the FCC. 1 Call into the FCC is equivilant to 1 billion people. So with an average of 10 or 15 people on here who generally post hate on JP, thats equivilant to 10 to 15 billion people who hate JP. LOL
jspelk…
he said he is going to visit to the minors tom. and have a look at meloan and some other prospects…
did anyone happen to ask who he would like to see come up, come time for roster expansion?
It’s good to see “ole reliable”KENT back. Well it’s do or die now, got to get up and get back in the race and hope the snakes & frias fall on their faces. Those cauliflowers are still growing over the rockies too. Let’s hope HENDRY can dup last time and the offense can get off their back pockets and do something for a change. We’re only sick WE’RE AIN’T DEAD YET.
try to read the exact question i ask about JP when they post it in the website…
gelomac is my name there…
his answer is long…
he’s really protecting his dignity by trying to defend JP… lol…
The funniest part of the chat was where he said Pierre gets on base a lot, over 200 times a year. Yeah, Ned, that’s good…when you do it within the span of 575 PAs. When you do it in 700+, you’re an out machine and you’re a drain on the team. Nice spin, though.
The game is less than an hour away. We’ll see if their slump is over. Go Dodgers!!!
And it can’t get here fast enough…
I see a lot of you didn’t get your questions answered. Dont feel bad at least you understood the directions on how to ask a question. I just never saw the little white box at the bottom. BUT I learned a long time ago that some things seem a little harder than they are suppose to be but Never give up.
He said the same thing i said earlier in this chat about JP, that he was a nice complimentary player when they signed him…I then asked him, complimentary to who?… which he did not answer of course.
How many times has Nomar batted 6th?? I don’t really recall him batting so far down on the lineup, wow how the mighty have fallen.
A $44 mil dollar complimentary player. I wonder then, how much will they offer A-Rod?
oh well.. sounds like meloan will be up in sept in any case. Defending the pierre contract is absurd but you can’t expect anything else from him. He’s a lousy ball player with one skill and ned did not realize it. Even if the offense was thriving we’d still all know it. Nice try though, ned.
Actually, it’s his 19th game batting sixth and it has worked out for Nomar:
.319/.375/.458/.833
I think the complimentary player was supposed to be furcal. if Raffy was healthy and running at his norm, I could see that. But the issue remains that his OBP needs to be about .060 – .10 higher.
haven’t u notice that all the players who bats on the 6th spot has turned to have a success?
like martin he started hitting 6th and he is so successful there… and now nomar…
Those who honestly expected Ned Colletti to take on any controversial questions or questions with any hint of discontent were only kidding themselves. Of course he was going to take the company line and he most definitely wasn’t going to say anything against any of his players or his signings.
Although he most likely never comes onto this blog (would you?), I’d be willing to bet that he is / was briefed about the daily Ground Hog Day bashings that occur here and that some of the Ground Hogs would probably be on the live chat.
Unlike most, I believe that Ned is doing a pretty good job with what he has to work with and I respect that he didn’t trade away any of our kids or prospects for a rent-a-player at the trade deadline. This shows me that he is committed to building a winning team from within (which will not happen overnight).
On a positive note, if what he said about visiting the Minors is true, this could be a very good thing, especially for the possibility of bringing up Jonathan Meloan (which I predicted would occur in 6 to 8 weeks about two weeks ago).
GO NED!
GO DODGERS!
Fansince, you are a breath of fresh air to say the very least.
The Blue Crew will begin it’s annual hot run tonight! FYI, the Dodgers will be back in first place in the West by Sept. 5th.
Rotation announced for the next 5 games:
Hendrickson
Billingsley
Tomko
Penny
Lowe
I just read an article on ESPN.com that there is a Rat problem at Angels Stadium…Freakin’ Gross!!
those guys don’t clean up the stadium until the morning after the game!!
Colletti did a great job last year. This year not so much. This team isn’t better then last years which is the goal for every GM after every season and don’t blame it on a weak free agent market. You don’t have to sign guy every year.
Of course if we signed Kenny Lofton, Wolf stayed healthy and Nomar wasn’t NOMAS and Furcal was healthy we’d probably have a better team then last year.
i cant wait to read the transcript from the Colletti chat…i had to go buy books for school so i missed it. I would have asked him about why he chose Pierre over Lofton.
are we pushing back lowe?
i don’t get why management is so afraid to say a guy is hurt or to put people on the DL. Furcal can surely use it. Martin needs days off. Lowe isn’t 100% neither is Penny. I’d rather lose a guy for one start or 3 or 4 days then the rest of the season.
skeeba_alk3:
“…a Rat problem at Angels Stadium…”******** – And here I thought that they started putting raisins in the food. (lol!)
Actually, that story broke a few days ago and, according to health department reports, the problem has been resolved. Regardless – YUCK!
GO DODGERS!
No wonder Dodger Dogs taste so much better…
Just bat Pierre 8th already.
i love JP’s litle flashy stat thingy…277 0 homers 27 rbi…they are better off just not showing that….
what is JP doing?
start up the single machine!!
Not a bad 1st despite the 2 Ks, it took Arroyo 31 pitches to get through the inning.
Just a typical Dodger inning – it is difficult to string three hits together in an inning against any decent pitcher. Without any power we just won’t score enough.
if you ask me JP and norris hopper pretty much do the same thing, our guy just has more benefits.
I wonder how pissed Kent is that when he left he was with a 1stplace club and now that he returns only a week later his club is 4 back of 1st and 2 out of the wild card.
Not typos…what happened to gonzo? I like gonzo so I hope he gets it going again
OBP/SLUG/AVG
.253/.296/.239
Gonzo’s numbers after the All-Star break
1-0 Reds. Probably too much for this Dodger team to overcome… and as I type it’s now 3-0. Game over.
Obviously it’s not too difficult to string a bunch of hits together against a mediocre to lousy pitcher.
and with the heat and humidity its like playing at coors without the humidor.
These sub .500 teams must be glad to see the Dodgers come around.
the single machine doesnt work very well with stats like that jungar. that is just putrid..
Pathetic…… How much longer is it going to take Grittle to realize that Hendy should’nt be starting?
Who else could possibly start in his place though, cdlv?
i cannot watch this right now. its so sad.
yeah just be thankful it’s not tomko. we’d be down 6-0 already
Looks like the team is already back at the hotel…
That inning dispelled the idea that Arroyo is going to get overworked in this game.
There’s the difference. Same as the D’s. With runners on 1 & 2nd. Pop out. Reds, same set-up, Dunn (LH) batting .219
against Lh Pithers, singles to right on an inside pitch ,no less. Situational hitting. NO MAGIC, whatsoever.
NO HUGE TALENT, Just a team that wants to win a ballgame.
That’s all it is. NO B.S…..
SEE BALL…HIT BALL…Simple.!
Well, I’d say we try again next year. Gnashing of teeth will not help this year – the rookies are just too raw and the veterans way too old!
We can only hope that the offseason will somehow bring us half a rotation. Anybody seriously entertaining postseason thoughts with Hendrickson and Tomko in the rotation and Nomar, Pierre and Gonzalez ( plus Loney and Kemp, the two slumping rookies ) playing almost daily will probably be disappointed!
Houlton, Stults maybe even Hull. Hendy has been a bust ever since coming over from Tampa Bay. It’s to bad because he’s a nice guy but right now the Dodgers need strong outings and I don’t think he’s capable of that on a consitent basis.
here is our number 1 problem
ist inning down 3 to 0 because of lousey pitching. now everyone tries to take it upon themselves to get 3 runs back with one swing. need not to pitch hendy/and tompko.
number two, every other team wants kemp,loney, bills, and la rocke, for as ned said a middle relief pitcher, or a bigger trade that creates more holes than they fill.
but man, do we need some pitching help. stults, and d.j. just can not be as bad as hendy/tompko.
come on dodgers
Houlton was terrible in relief whenever he came in and Stults and Hull keep getting shelled in vegas. I honestly think Hendrickson’s the best option right now..and look he can even hit haha
lurch with the leadoff double!!
I think we found our new LH stick off the bench lol
dont act like hendy and tomko are our only options griffon. ned may think they are the best , but they are not the los angeles dodgers only options.
pierre stinks so bad. i am so tired of him. trade him and 40 million to cincy for norris hopper.
We still need a hit with RISP to score Hendrickson, something this team hasn’t done lately
wow.
And still cannot do, getting them on has never been the problem. Getting them in, well that’s our deathnail.
Runner on 3rd, no outs, can’t plate him. That is Dodger baseball.
Sorry to say—-And the beat goes on._____
pierre single handedly killed that rally by fouling out and not advancing anyone. performances like that are just what we need juan keep up the good work..
good job JP and Russ.
That’s ok, we are facing another Cy young award pitcher and he’s tough. We can afford to lose tonight!
jk GOD IM SO PISED
its time to cut our losses and put JP in the 8 hole for good. JP is just horrible, he should not be leading this team in PA’s.
How about cut Lurch?
norris hopper continues to outplay juan pierre at a fraction of the cost. heck he even has power. coletti is looking dumber and dumber by the minute..
wow and here I am thinking that Bronson Arroyo was going to be the answer for our offense. This is absolutely disgusting. Im about to turn it off because at this point work is more enjoyable.
This team will turns below .500 and may even end up finishing the season below it.
We’ll probably be in fourth place after this road trip, but when we get home we can really buckle down and start that 18 game hot streak. What a team Colletti can put together for you for ONLY $110 million. Can you stand that for another year, Mr. McCourt? Better start talking to LOGAN WHITE Now!!!
geez this is pathetic. Whats even worse is the democratic debate. Does Hiliary CLinton have to YELL ALL THE TIME!
I would H_A_T_E to get sweeped by this 47-64 club.
Wow, she really is letting it rip! Great play by Martin and Loney totally bailing Hendrickson out.
this game and the democratic debate is equally tortuous to watch…lol
arroyo has his own CD..maybe he can team up with cowboy joe west on a duet.
yep…. work is definitely more enjoyable than this.
get Martin out of the 3 spot for awhile
HIT & RUN! was I the only thinking that with Martin up. Make him swing the bat!
gonzo has been getting some wack calls lately..i will give him that….
It is getting really tough to watch these guys.
GAME OVER
Are we 0 for the second half with runners in scoring position, I mean come on our fortunes have to turn around right???
Jim Katt is telling us what’s going to happen before it happens like what pitch will be thrown. The Dodgers are rolling over by the book?
excuse me while I go throw up
Is that Katt or Brantley? I know Brantley is a Dodger hater from his SF days.
why don’t we move runners over with a bunt or hit & run the offense is struggling, we have an inconsistent line up day in day out yet our manager sits there and does nothing. Fire someone up once in a while. Remember Tommy would go coach third when the offense would struggle get runners moving, get thrown out. My point is Grittle needs to get off his rear end.
its Brantley
Look on the bright side we have no errors tonight.
Gotta love the first pitch outs.
nomar’s first pitch swinging days are well behind him. we are making arroyo look like walter johnson…
im out F this
Arroyo coming off his worst start of the year to look like an allstar.
Maybe this is how you do hit AFTER the second out. GOOD NEWS a new pitcher MAYBE he’ll have an off night.
wow another quality AB.
O.K. MAYBE NEXT TIME.
I think Grady needs to come up with something for the media,because Sunday he said we can’t go any lower from here?
New Inning No Arroyo maybe the change might do ’em good.
I posted something earlier today in response to posts by Dodgerdue, sangabrield, and manny3. Alex is not my PR guy, but I generally agree with him. And I think you can look to the 2005 team (both the bad off-season moves–including signing JD Drew, who despite enormous talent, almost never plays well for a full season–and the non-moves at the roster), which saw us relying on the likes of Jose Valentin, Hee-Seop Choi, Jayson Werth, etc. All decent guys, but no way would we get anywhere. Anyway, with Ned, we seem to have a philosophy and a future–maybe that’s McCourt’s doing, maybe it’s Logan White. But DePo did not get it done in LA–he may well be successful elsewhere.
As for the Pierre signing, I don’t like dwelling on it, because I did not like it, but we have him for 5 years, and he’s not going away. And, he is a legitimate every day majore league center-fielder. Not the best–but not the worst. I think we can agree there. Should we have signed him? And for that much? Probably not, but there were much worse moves made this off-season (I think the RedSox made 2 awful moves, ironically enough signing 2 former Dodgers in JD Drew [who, as I said, has the talent, but so did Darren Dreifort], and Julio Lugo [who was marginally useful in a utility role for us last year]). So, that’s what I meant about not THAT bad.
Today’s game is THAT bad. Not scoring in the first, and then falling behind just stinks, and it seems lost from the outset. The lineup should not have an easy out (who would you feel comfortable pitching to? Even if you say Pierre, you have to admit that when he is on, he is one of the biggest problems in the league). But we’re just not hitting.
That being said, Hendrickson’s outing has been serviceable. We should easily be able to overcome 4 runs in 6 innings, and turn it over to Proctor/Beimel/Broxton and Saito. I know we don’t want to talk about serviceable outings in a pennant race, but it’s enough to win, and that was the idea behind the move to get Proctor.
I can’t explain what’s going on, but I know we still have the talent to win it. Let’s hope it shows up.
shocker
If you put Derek Jeter ,A-ROD or anybody you want._______The’d still have trouble scoring runs. It is just the way it is right now.
It must be time to FIRE Bill Mueller….
We obviously need another SCAPEGOAT for this Pathetic Hitting Display….
What a JOKE…..
They say that Teams often are a Reflection of their Manager/Coach….
Boy, is that ever the case with this team…..
They are showing no Passion, seem Listless & Tired, Make many, many Stupid Mistakes both in the field & at the plate…..
YES, THEY ARE PLAYING JUST LIKE THEIR MANAGER MANAGES… So verry, very SAd…
I don’t think the METS could help them right now.
the 2005 dodgers biggest problem was a record amount of injuries sustained that year. DePo had one playoff year, and one horribly unlucky year… I think it’s unfair to say that he didn’t get it done during his tenure. Will you be saying the same about Coletti if we miss the playoffs this year? Prob not.
We got one good season out of JD last year that helped us get into the playoffs, and the year before he was doing very well untill the freak wrist injury.
Let’s also compare Drew to Pierre: Drew in 95 games played has 58 runs, 6 HR, 41 RBI, .357 OBP, .380 SLG .252 BA, 2 SB. Pierre in 111 games has 66 runs, 0 HR, 27 RBI, .314 OBP, .331 SLG and .277 BA, 44 SB. These stats not counting tonights game. Both players aren’t playing to their full abilities, but its unfair also to call Drew a much bigger disappointment than Pierre. I’d easily choose Drew’s numbers over Pierre’s. Additionally, i wanna point out that Drew’s numbers are way off his career norms, whereas Pierre’s aren’t that far off… meaning that Drew has much more room for reasonable improvement than Pierre does. To conclude… yes, the Pierre decision really is that bad.
You might as well pull names out of a hat…which my girlfriend just did, this lineup couldn’t do worse:
Ethier
Martin
Kent
Furcal
Loney
Nomar
Gonzo
Pierre
But I will say that tonight’s impending shut-out is not Pierre’s fault.
You could put the best players in the game nothing diffent would happen as long as they are wearing our uniform. Don’t blame Colletti or Grady. Nobdy can predict the future.
pierreEmeetsW…
In the small picture, game by game, yes that’s true. These things will happen, slumps will happen, and it’ll happen to the best of teams. It’s Ned’s long term, big picture views that I disagree with. it’s having guys consistently underperform, or perform at such low levels of productivity, yes still keeping them on the roster. Signing guys with zero power to play everyday for 5 years. Signing risky pitchers to large deals. Thats what I am unhappy about. Also, 3 shut outs in 4 games… yikes!
4 games over 500 at this point is terrible. We will be tied with the Rockies tomorrow morning.
yet*
You could put the best players in the game on the Dodger Roster & Grady & Ned would find a way to Screw it up…. Believe Me
pathetic.
You just have to wait it out this is the same team that played so well in the first half. Now everything they hit is right at somebody. Right now all the luck is against them. IT COULD TURN AROUND TOMORROW __MAYBE TOMORROW IS THE TURNING POINT.
Dodgerdude—-Maybe all that was done on purpose. Maybe they didn’t want us to win. OR Things didn’t turn out the way they thought it would. Maybe all this losing will get them to sit down and try to come up with something different. But WHO KNOW?
Interesting–isn’t that how Billy Martin made up a lineup for the Yankees in 1977–pulling names out of a hat? Or have I just watched too much of “The Bronx is Burning”?
DodgerDude–I don’t want to get too far into the 2005 team vs. this year’s team. I think we all agree that this year’s version is much better, and hopefully still has a chance (though three shutouts in four games is atrocious). But, the injuries in 2005 really were not unexpected. Drew was notorious in his short career for injury-shortened seasons. Some guys are maybe injury-prone, some just have bad luck, some guys are more durable, and some guys just play through it. Cal Ripken and Russell Martin are either the latter two–Drew was one of the former two. If you look at Milton Bradley, same problem. There were some surprises, like Gagne, but check out the roster from http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=2005&t=LAN. It’s just not very good, and you would not expect it to be.
OK, quick comparison between Drew and Pierre. Drew often found himself to be the most talented player on the field. Even with the incredible frustration that I had with him for what seemed like an inordinate number of called third strikes, and that he should hit with much more power, I would easily take him over Pierre any day–IF HE’S PLAYING. But it got to be so silly to even count on him. He was worse than Mike Marshall (who famously once sat out for “general soreness”). Pierre, you know what you will get, and you get it every day. Drew caught lightning in a bottle by staying healthy last year.
What will I do if we don’t make the playoffs this year (hypothetical only–you’ve got to believe)? Lots of blame to go around, to be sure. But as much as I respect sabermetrics, and always hate the “baseball feelings” that you hear from people who seem to ignore statistics, there is a basic reality. In 2005, from Opening Day forward, I was never optimistic about the team. From the moment Jose Valentin lost the ball in the chalk at third base, I thought it was over. I simply did not think that the team would repeat after the 2004-05 off-season. They started off great, but by May 16 had fallen out of first place and never really came close again. Maybe that pessimissm was misplaced, but the 2005 season was a big letdown.
2007 was much different. I think we came into the season as the front-runner (SI confirmed that). We had abundant talent, we had more starting pitching than we knew what to do with (boy, those were the days), and we were on the verge of breaking through to a period of sustained dominance. I would say that I felt that same way as recently as a week ago. And despite the depression of dropping five straight (first time this year), I still am optimistic that we can come out of that funk. Not blindly hopeful, but based on our real talent and potential (our 8 hits tonight matched the Reds 8 hits, so it’s not like we can’t hit). I admit, you can’t point to any solid evidence or fact.
You might have felt totally different then, and feel totally different now, but the big difference to me can be summed up this way–when we lost in 2005, it was frustrating because I did not think we had the ability to win. When we are losing this season it is frustrating because I believe that we have the ability to be winning.
Watching the game was frustrating. Pierre can’t be blamed this time. He did get on base. In fact that’s the problem. The Dodgers get players on base but not all the way to homeplate which means they get shut out. The two teams had the same number of hits plus the Reds incurred 2 errors. So that’s the problem. There are too many left on base and not advanced. Hendy started out not so good but was better later which is true with a lot of pitchers. Now that the Dodgers have lost 5 in a row, maybe the tide will turn. There’s always tomorrow.
This team has not won 5 straight all year. Losing like this is unacceptable and someone needs to send a message that this is unacceptable. If the Manager can’t do it than he has to go. I think after the team saw what happened at the trading deadline, they feel like a lot of us feel that losing Betemit and gaining Proctor made them a worse team ,and subconsiously they’re playing like it.
It would have been nice to have had an “impact bat” in our lineup today… oh well.. but at least we still have our prospects… Lets go small market Dodgers!
We do not have the ability to win Games…..
We are relying on Hendy & Bomko as starters…
We are relying on Hernandez in relief….
We are relying on Sanez & Martinez as pinch hitters…
We are playing Pierre every single day…..
We are not giving Ethier & Kemp a chance to play enough so that they can mature & improve… Plus help this team…
We are relying on a manager who, for whatever reason, is afraid of the veteran players…. Probably because they have been in the Majors for a lot longer than he has, and they are probably smarter than he is about how a baseball team should be run…. Whatever the problem, he is most definitely intimidated….
This all adds up to a team that cannot win games on a consisten basis….
What’s funny is that maybe the impact bat in today’s game was Hendy. He hit the double.
that’s true lurch’s hit was wasted. were unlikely to see that again.
1) I miss Wilson Betemit. I know it’s annoying to harp on stuff, but this has to be said. That was a brilliant move last year, and not just for getting rid of Baez. Betemit had all the potential of being an everyday player, and the Braves probably should have kept him given how fragile Chipper Jones is. The guy was reworking his swing and hit the ball right at people in April. He lost his starting job then, never to gain it back. In the meantime, he’s developed into a patient hitter with a lot of pop, so even with a low batting average he’s quite effective, and far more useful than a middle reliever.
2) Hendrickson had a decent enough start. A run over “quality,” but he held up for 6 innings. He tried to do what he could, even hitting a double. The Dodgers need to score though.
3) Martin needs to sit down, or at least drop down in the lineup. If you drop him back down, that’s a bit more time to sit. As Dodger Blues rightly remarked, Little needs to tell Le Capitaine to sit down at least once a week.
4) Maybe Bill Mueller didn’t magically make the Dodgers’ offense better. But here’s an idea – let Gonzo rest and play Kemp instead. Honestly, that’ll do more than a hitting coach will.
5) Billingsley faces Harang tomorrow, otherwise known as the Reds’ good pitcher. Even though he has taken it upon himself to score the first runs of the game before (see: his major league debut), he’s the pitcher. All it takes is a nice string of hits and walks put together to score (see: last year’s offense).
PRIDE It drives us crazy. In other walks of life I’ve done a pretty good job of contolling it. It’s a good thing for me that I controled it. I would be somewhere else. Proberbly still using a computer, but only because they allowed me to. But this darn baseball team, ever since I was in grammer school. The teacher told me to “Come back from Ebbet’s Field” whenever I was daydreaming. Now I’m known as the Dodger Fan. While everybody else is at Shea I’m still 3000 miles away. It was great when I had Drysdale & Koufax or Garvey & Cey or Fernandomamia & I laughed at the little Metsies. So I don’t like it now that the tide has changed. Yes I was proud of this team. Now I’m proud of myself_____for sticking to them with all the ups & downs. But Pride hurts.
I just congradulated Barry Bonds but I apparently wrote on the wrong blog. (yesterdays). So I’ll repeat. C O N G R A D U L A T I O N S To Barry Bonds who finally made it to the top of the homerun list. I remember the day he went to the Giants, who were temperarilly own by a group of people including Mike Piazza’s father. They couldn’t keep the team because they were connected to crime. But unfortunately he remained with the team. I was more mad because it was the Giants the team I hated. Even then I knew he was great. But he did it. How he did it I don’t care. Whatever the final number is, that’s the one to shoot for. I root against the team but I have nothing against Barry Bonds.
this team is worse than than 2005 team, it just so happens our replacements are alittle better now.
The Dodgers have gone from one of the premier teams in baseball to a joke. Frank McLiar promised that he was going to bring a championship team back to L.A. Meanwhile, some years later we are in no better position than when The idiots at Fox owned the team. EVERYBODY knew that the most glaring need for the Dodgers was a PROVEN power-hitter in this anemic lineup so, what does Ned do? He goes and trades for a washed-up, over-used reliever with a losing record. Thanks Ned. Typical Dodger brain trust, never trade anybody just because they THINK they’ll become the next all-star. They hold onto these prospects until their value decreases to the point where all they can get is some player way past his prime. I am fed up with this organization. Year-after-year it’s the same ****. Meanwhile, we have to endure having the Angels shoved down our pie holes. Talk about adding insult to injury. At the current rate the Dodgers will not win a championship during my lifetime, and I’m only 47. L.A. sports have hit an all-time low. There’s no pride in being a Dodger fan anymore.
who is gonna hit .317 with a .462 OBP and with a .683 slug and 1.145 OPS in September to carry us? The anti christ (to most of you, not me) JD Drew did it last September. This year…who knows.
Biggest L.A. Dodger come backs after August 7th
1983: 5.5
1995: 3.0
1978: 2.0
1959: 1.5
2006: 1.5
1996: 1.0
Proctor is not wash up and he’s doing an excellent job. You should think about the wash up Hernandez.
I’d rather keep all of our prospect. I would hate another 1 to turn our like a Konerko our a Martinez.
The Dodgers have the fourth best bull pen in the national league. One aspect of the team we can’t criticize are those pitchers. Proctor has done well, as well as Seanez, Beimel and Broxton. Let’s at least give credit where credit is due. And don’t forget Saito when we actually need a closer.
Let’s see.. yesterday at Cincinnatti
Furcal, Martin, Gonzo, Kent, Garciaparra, Ethier and Loney 3-28, Pierre 3-4. Yeah, Pierre is definitely the problem on this team.
bonds hits his 756 HR and the dodgers still can’t score a run…
what the **** is happening…
the lineup yesterday is the best grady put all season long… the problem, it’s not effective..
if they are not going to sit JP…
bat him leadoff… he can’t deliver runs i would prefer him to be my leadoff man…
if martin won’t bat 2nd he should go back to 5th or 6th…
he is tired… and when u look at his swing right now… it’s just not rayt…
Lineup:
JP
Martin
Loney
Kent
Nomar
Ethier
Gonzo
Furcal
if JP sits:
Furcal
Martin
Loney
Kent
Nomar
Ethier
Gonzo
Kemp
or…
Furcal
JP
Nomar
Kent
Martin
Ethier
Gonzo
Loney
gonzo is not the right man in that 5th spot… he is struggling badly…
kiper,
why would u bat gonzo on the 3rd spot?
he can’t even deliver runs…
he got some bad swing going on right now…
did u even watch yesterday?
all his swings are awful…
i would prefer Loney hitting 3rd coz im sure he will give us productive outs like advancing runners…
Why is it that everyone is so down on Pierre? He is actually getting hits, probably more than the others. Is he the scapegoat of the team?? The others aren’t hitting either. Everyone is struggling.
Van
everyones swings are awful. Even if their swings are right on, they miss and strike out.
van, i would bat Gonzo 7th, that is providing that i would even start him right now… I think right now what we need is:
Pierre
Furcal
Martin
Kent
Ethier
Garciaparra
Loney
Kemp
This give Furcal an opportunity to let Pierre run and then have him in scoring position. Gonzo needs to sit, not Pierre or Martin.
With Garciaparra protecting Ethier, he will see alot more pitches.
xoxrussell,
becoz of the money…
he has been spotty this year…
u saw him get 3 hits yesterday what’s next tom?
but i don’t really care about JP coz i don’t really expect alot from him…
the only problem is there is no room for Andrew Jones or Tori Hunter…
kiper,
pierre can go three for four the rest of the year for all i care. he is not what we needed. just know what we are seeing right now is ned’s plan b. juan is a part of that. we cant score one run for chad, we cant score 4 for hendy, we cant even advance runners first and second no out. and yet somehow we traded betemit for something we could have fixed easily internally. the big blue single machine is in desperate need of some kinda spark.
kiper,
the problem is furcal has a bad ankle…
if JP doesn’t steal 2nd it can easily be a double play…
ur not telling me that u expect JP to steal a base every game rayt?
martin doesn’t need a rest?
i think u don’t appriciate martin…
Kiper, I like that line-up.
I think everybody needs to calm down, we’re down but not out. What short term memories we all have, remember that horrible stretch last year? I will admit, its not looking good but I’m not quitting on this team yet, if we have another week like this past one however it might be time to start rooting for ’08. If my memoriy serves me correctly, we had the highest team BA and third most runs in the NL about 2 weeks ago so it’s not like our offense has been terrible all season, we’re just in a funk.
I was surprised when they traded Betemit, especially when he was doing so well as a pinch hitter. I’m not sure if Proctor was a good exchange, especially since the offense seems to be a problem now. We need a power hitter who is fairly consistent. Obviously Saenz wasn’t that spark as we saw last week.
van, if Furcal has a bad ankle, then wouldn’t it make more sense to bat him 2nd? He can go for a little more power and JP can get around the bases alot faster. If Furcal is at 1st he’s not going to score on the slap singles that Pierre hits, if JP is at 1st he will score on a gapper by Furcal. As for Martin, i appreciate him alot, i think he’s the MVP of this team, but if he’s not getting days off i’m sure it’s because he feels good. I think a day off on occasion would be nice but…
As for you graffiti, Pierre is here to stay we may as well stay positive on him!
xoxrussel,
yeah i know everyone has been swinging bad…
what i mean is how gonzo hit the ball… his swing, it’s not right, it looks bad… he is chasing everything and that results to a very bad looking swing…
and not all of them if u ask me…
Ethier, Nomar, Loney has been hitting the ball hard but they hit it to the defender…
We have to look at Russell defensively. He’s the best catcher in the National League. Lieberthal is adequate but not a Russell Martin. When the Dodgers are struggling, it’s not wise to let him sit. He makes the most awesome defensive plays. Look at yesterdays game. And he wants to play. I think he would know when he is too tired to play. And then remember he’s only 24 not almost 40 like some of the others players.
The Betemit/ Porter exchange was a case of the Yankees taking advantage of Colletti, who desperately wanted to show some kind of a trade – any trade – to justify his existence. Beyond that, the Yankees obviously know how to get something out of a utility player – something that escapes Little’s knowledge or imagination – he’d rather stick with Saenz and Martinez.
Van
you’re right about Gonzo’s swings. The Dodgers are getting on base. Look at the game yesterday. How many were left stranded. The solution would be how to get to home plate.
charris,
last year has alot more offense…
this year more pitching… but the pitching is all gone…
last year we have Drew…
last year we have 2 guys who hit 20 HR… Drew and Nomar…
this year i think we might not have one…
van, HRs are not the only offensive catagory, as I said before 2 weeks ago we were 3rd in the NL in runs scored behind I think Philly and Milwakee. Our offense is better this year than last, Martin is a year older, Loney, Kemp, Ethier all getting more mature. We are just in a funk right now and nobody would have dared to say what you’re saying now on this blog even a week ago.
kipper,
but what ur saying is if the offense is great…
Furcal can hardly hit this year, so how can he hit to gaps…?
he hit alot of Ground balls this year and alot of pop ups…
and he does not have his power last year… he only has 4 HR this year…
yesterday is the example…
if not with 2 errors his not going to be on base…
we are not on a funk…
we are on a big big hole…
we don’t have pitching anymore…
in september who will step up?
we have not scored runs in 3 out 4 games… how can u explain that?
down the stretch, long ball is the answer…
and don’t be mad at me…
im not giving up yet too…
im just saying the facts…
last year Drew is great down the stretch… who will step up this year?
I am not saying that the offense is great, it stinks, but when your going this poorly you have to shake things up. I am just saying that there’s a better chance of Furcal driving in JP than vice versa. Just trying to stir the pot. Maybe Grady should do the same.
charris,
the last time we have been this far behind was 83′ i believe the year i was born. maybe we can rewrite some history, but at this point this team looks like it should be rewriting standards…
van, I don’t know about you but not scoring runs in 3 of 4 games is exactly what I called it earlier, a FUNK. If our offense is as bad as you make it out to be I challenge you to find another week long stretch this year where our offense has been this futile. Guess what, you won’t be able to…why? Because we’re in a FUNK.
Now if you want to argue pitching then I’m with you there, Hendy and Tomko are not going to give us acceptable performaces consistently, so that scares me but our offense will come around.
Who will step up? Take your pick:
Kemp
Loney
Martin
Ethier
All of whom are more talented than Drew IMO.
Van
I’m not so sure that it’s the pitching that’s the problem. Our pitchers with the highest ERA have not done that badly. Although they seem to make a habit of allowing the other team to score early (like the first inning), the Dodgers were always able to catch up somehow. I still think that the hits are there but getting the runs is the problem. It’s not that no one gets on base…they do. They get stranded.
i think Loney will step up…
i just have the feeling that Loney will be good down the stretch…
we just need to find the right place for him to bat…
he makes productive outs coz he makes contact with the ball…
graffiti, do you honestly think the D-Backs will stay this hot the rest of the way? I don’t, my biggest concern is the Pads and we’re only chasing them by 3. If we can get back on track, there is no reason to think that we can’t catch a 4 game deficit with 50 left to play.
xoxrussell,
im talking about the stretch run…
i know the pitchers are doing great right now…
but i don’t think that hendy and tomko can continue that come september…
charris…
the dbacks are the one who is our concern…
i think maddux and wells are wearing out…
and Peavy is only one they have right now…
plus their offense was more awful than us this year…
so i think the dbacks should be our concern…
if yesterday we can’t score with arroyo… what would it be today with harang on the mound?
reds has a bad pitching staff…. we should take advantage to it…
van, if the D-Backs are our biggest concern, then I’m not too concerned with 50 games left. They have a team BA of .246 and have scored 36 fewer runs than us this year, our staff ERA’s are nearly identical with Arizona (3.98) slightly edging us (3.99). I expect us to put up some runs today, we are playing in Cincy, Harang or not. Today is a new day and our team will turn it around soon.
u keep talking about runs and average…
that doesn’t matter…
if u keep talking like that why is it that the dodgers are tied in 3rd place even if they scored alot of runs and has a higher average?
this is not about average and runs anymore…
we are talking about willingness to play and some guys need to step up…
charris im optimistic. i dont think arizona is gonaa stay that hot , but who knows. i was referring more to our effort yesterday about the standards. how many times did we not advance runners from second with no outs? one thing i do know for sure though, if lowe has to miss some time we are not looking good.
that’s the reason why i want loney to bat 3rd… he can give us productive outs..
he advance runners… puts the ball in play and i think he can give us tons of RBI…
russell is tired right now…
and i think he is taking it too much that he thinks he is the only one who can lift the team… He did lift us, though, on the first half but that time he is batting 5th or 6th…
i think it’ll be smart to bat martin 5th or 6th… he is much more productive batting 5th or 6th…
Graffiti, I agree, these past couple of weeks have been tough to stomach. Their is no excuse for Major Leaguers to not execute fundamentally. I know we’ll turn it around, hopefully it starts today but you’re right if Lowe gets DLed, we’re definitely in hot water.
off topic, but david wells from the pads is going to be DFA’d..
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7104100
charris,
isnt it crazy how sharply martin has reverted back to the mean. he looks really frustrated i think we should move him down a few spots until he gets going again. resting wouldnt seem to hurt either. if martin has to lay one down for kent to sac fly em in so be it.
Russell may look frustrated. Who wouldn’t? But he still plays his heart out. I think Van, you have the right idea. It must be the batting order that is important. Kent is the key. Figure out where to put him, work on those bunts and sacrifices to somehow put people on base and then have Kent or Ethier up to bat. Kent is still on that hitting streak. And Ethier seems to connect somehow. No one can argue that Pierre runs like the wind, given a chance to steal. He also doesn’t strike out much. Like I said already, today is another day. Once it gets turned around, the Dodgers are good at keeping it up. Maybe Billingsley will be hot today.
Without a true bopper in our line-up, I think it’s imperative for us to play small ball, look how Scioscia runs things down south and he even has Vlad. I always see the Angels bunting guys over, playing hit and run, elevating balls to the outfield with a runner on 3rd and less than 2 outs. These subtle little moves, when executed efficiently can really make a difference.
Charris
you are 100% right. It’s the small ball that’s important. Not the homeruns. That’s the problem. All those stranded players!!!
How many times were there 2+ players left on base with 2 outs? Even the best hitters couldn’t advance them for even one run. I wonder if they need to study the pitchers more and figure out how to hit those pitches efficiently.
The problem with Pierre is that even when he’s red-hot, he’s still a relative non-factor, so while I’m not blaming him for the losing streak, his hot bat isn’t doing much to help them get out of it. He simply isn’t creating much offense on his own… part of this is his lack of power, since he essentially hits nothing but singles and doesn’t drive anyone in (although this isn’t entirely his fault, since he doesn’t necessarily have a lot of changes, with Furcal slumping and the pitcher’s spot before Furcal).
And while he steals bases in bunches, they don’t particularly seem to be in spots where they actively help the team. I’ll give him full credit for getting on base and being hot these days, but it’s a lackluster hot streak for sure.
In the last six games, he has an OPS of 0.858. Ethier is at 0.979, Nomar at 0.758, Martin at 0.651, and everyone else below 0.600.
The hitting slump won’t last forever. Can it?
Of course long-term Pierre is a problem, but I don’t think he can take much blame for the current losing streak.
well yeah i mean lately you can’t blame him but he basically ***** up the second most number of Abs on the team and has absolutely no chance of hitting a HR and rarely hits an XbH either. That’s a lot of bats to be giving to someone like him.
we have a combination of badluck here..
the problem is we hit the ball hard, but to a defender…
right now they need to look at good pitches so they can hit it out or hit it into the gaps…
look at james loney…
Loney might be slumping.. we can see it in his numbers… but he always keeps the ball in play… and he hit the ball hard… so i don’t call it slump… badluck, yes!
yeah Loney has been making some hard outs. It’s not like he’s weaking grounding out to second or popping the ball up. They are shots AT people.
i just read Ned’s chat and the Juan Pierre question was completely dodged. “We want him to get on base 200 times and steal 50 bases” thats a great way to dodge the precentages. Baseball is the only sport really where precentages mean more then the actaully numbers. It’s also the only sport where you’re considered great if you fail 7 out of 10 times.
well, even if Ned had the same views and opinions that most hold on this blog in regards to pierre (which may be true anyways)..it’s not like he’s going to publicly state it. No one ever does, and if you expected honest answers to the tough question, you’ll be disappointed.
Sigh….Everyone is right here. Baseball is so unpredictable. You can have the best team but somehow you can’t win. It is luck or something. Look at golf. If it were strictly skill, Tiger would always win. Why can’t the Yankees always win with their team? And how did the Reds win yesterday with that pitcher. Arroyo is a better singer and guitar player, for pete’s sake!!!
Arroyo supposedly only had one type of pitch..the splitter. The speed of his pitches only reached 90 once, I think. And yet the batters were fooled. What happened there?
Pierre’s signing was a mistake the minute it happened. It was another one of Ned’s panic moves. It made absolutley no sense whats so ever. He should be accountable for it. This team didn’t get better in the offseasons. To many medicore and washed up players at key positions. Don’t forget about the Schmidt deal and Nomas. Not the mention picking up Kent’s and Grady’s options before the dang season even started.
Hello everyone, i read this blog day in and day out, I really don’t post anything but today I feel like I have too. You guys really need to settle down and get behind the team. They are simply in a funk, not saying that when they snap out of this they will automatically go ahead win the the west, win the national league pennant, and then the world series, but that would be pretty cool. Also remember they have not played consistent baseball, they haven’t pithched consistently or have they hit consistently, which factors into them being in 3rd place. You guys really don’t think the snakes are that good, they are playing well over there heads, they will soon come down. For god’s sake they got beat by the Pirates. I say we support what we have and hope they can pull together before it’s too late.
This is what i would throw out there day in and day out from now on.
Furcal SS
Ethier RF
Garciaparra 3B (veterans to need to step up)
Kent 2B
Loney 1B (give him a chance at some RBI’s)
Martin C (he can hit wherever we need him)
Gonzalez LF (veteran needs to step it up.)
Pierre CF (pitcher’s will give him something to hit, hitting in front of pitcher will do him good, can’t afford to walk him, it’s an automatic triple, and then you give Raffy some RBI chances.
has anyone else seen this site? I started looking at it a few weeks ago.
http://juanpierreoutwatch.blogspot.com/
hopefully i get home in time for the game tonight. I love watching Billingsley pitch. Hopefully tonight it’s good Chad.
Actaully there really isn’t a good Chad. It’s either bad Chad or Ace Chad.
californiaautorebuilder,
it’s nice that u finally share ur thoughts…
but batting Ethier 2nd is not right…
we don’t have players driving in runs right now so why would u bat ethier 2nd if he is one of our options to deliver runs alot?
ethier should be batting 5th, 6th or 7th… just not 8th…
Furcal
Martin
Ethier
Kent
Loney
Nomas
Kemp/Gonzo
Pierre
van 19, you bat Ethier 2nd because he drives the ball in the gaps and Raffy can go from 1st to 3rd easy, when he gets on.
i would not want to bat JP on the 8th spot…
1) he has alot of speed..
2) natural leadoff hitter…
3) never bat 8th spot…
4) it would show that the organization don’t have respect for the FA they sign…
JP might be struggling but he has his name on MLB… and he is a known major leaguer…
Pierre is the best pinch runner in the league.
van look at Pierre’s numbers. If he was a “kid” he’s be back in Vegas right now.
People say Furcal is struggling but he only has 6 less runs scored then Pierre.
Hrmmm I wonder how many times Furcal has been forced out at second by Pierre and then Pierre later scored in that inning…
im aware of his numbers…
but still he is Juan Pierre…
he has a name in this game…
okay here’s the situation, Pierre comes up, walks, gets a hit whatever, his speed will help him get on base. Pitcher comes up sac bunts him to second, Raffy comes up takes a pitch or waits for Pierre to steal third, base hit scores him or even a sac fly, which Raffy does have the ability to hit a fly ball.
Whoever said “you can have the best team and still not win”..couldn’t have been talking about the Dodgers..lol
I said a couple of weeks ago that the Rockies are better than the Dodgers..and if you notice we are now tied with them…Their line up is like a professional baseball lineup and ours is like JV baseball..I love the Dodgers but I’m finding watching the games they play extremely painful…I can blame the players and the injuries to the pitchers, but in the end I blame Ned for putting this team on the field. Nomar and Gonzo are past their prime..not dependable except to ground out or pop up…although Nomar can do a bit better at home…The construction of this team is not good..I’m not so concerned with this year because we have no chance of winning anything..too many better teams in the Nat League…but we are stuck with Pierre again next year.
And the problems the Dodgers have been having…they all know what it is..and Grady keeps talking about it, and they continue to go out and play the same way..it’s unreal that they don’t learn anything..Heard Grady had a little closed door meeting with the fellas…apparently wasn’t happy that they didn’t make Arroyo work hard..LOL. what else is new??….I’m really tired of the Dodgers being mediocre..How come the Angels knew to sign Matthews and Ned had to sign Pierre?..It’s those kind of things that have to change if the Dodgers have want to contend.!
Rockies just beat the Brewers 19-4….Dodgers will be in 4th place by themselves if they don’t win…Here come the ROCKIES…told y’all.