Tonight's game
Since August 15, only one NL team has a better winning percentage than the Dodgers’ .714 mark and it’s the Giants (.733). Time to keep this little run going. It’s another huge game for David Wells so we’ll see if he’s up to the task against his former team.
Furcal, SS
Pierre, CF
Kemp, RF
Kent, 2B
Ethier, LF
Martin, C
Loney, 1B
Hillenbrand, 3B
Wells, P
Inside the Dodgers 
Oh man I can’t wait for this series to start!
GO DODGERS!
Are best 8 are out there tonight!!!!!
Nobody can disagree with this lineup.
Gonzo is probably not very happy!!!!
Maybe Wells is hung over, and can pitch another perfect game!!!!!
GOOOOOOO BLUE!!!!!!!!!
if anything this gives us a little look at what Upper Management is thinking about next year & not playing Gonzalez all that much anymore, good call.
this lineup is right on the money…
all they need to do is to cash in the win!
Go DODGERS!!!
THATS THE BEST 8!!!!!! POOR GONZO HOPEFULLY HE CRYS WHILE ANDRE IS 4-5
Some numbers to ponder while waiting for tonight’s game:
Career at Petco Park:
Furcal: 15 for 86 (.174)
Pierre: 15 for 63 (.238) 1 HR go figure
Kemp: 3 for 7 (.429) 1 HR
Kent: 21 for 81 (.259) 2 HR’s
Ethier: 6 for 40 (.150)
Martin: 9 for 41 (.220)
Loney: Never played at Petco
Hillenbrand: 13 for 47 (.277)
Gonzo: 27 for 115 (.235) 5 HR’s
Sweeney: 38 for 133 (.286) 6 HR’s
Saenz: 7 for 28 (.250)
Martinez: 8 for 26 (.308)
Lieberthal: 3 for 20 (.150)
That’s our best current lineup against a rookie. If they do not score a reasonable amount of runs, I’m going to cry, ’cause then the team really is hopeless as far as 2007 goes 😉
This lineup *****. There is a definite lack of veteran leadership!
Get Gonzo in there!
I’m a team player dang it!
A HUGE game tonight, for sure. I can’t complain with this lineup, this is the perfect lineup to go into SD. Let’s kick some Padre butt! GO DODGERS!!
http://mikesciosciastragicillness.com/
This should have been the line-up (sans Shea) all those games when Saenz was batting 4th with a .180 avg…
If Gonzo never plays again, I doubt we’d miss him if we kept this line-up from here on out and simply switched Nomar for Shea when he comes back. Let Nomar work his up from 8th.
Its crunch time – this is our best 8 and we need to keep this line-up.
This is a great lineup – of course we all need to cross our fingers that Grady doesn’t put a “veteran” in against Peavy tomorrow…
I LOVE THE LINE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank YOU Grady for doing your job and putting us in the BEST position to win.
Who let gonzo in this blog? go take extra BP!!!
I guarantee Gonzo will be in there tomorrow, but we’ll save that conversation for then.
luisgonzales,
that’s very funny man…
i can only hope that ur the real gonzo!
i will tell you not be selfish… and give the youngsters a well deserved playing time…!
yeah, this lineup is pretty solid tomorrows match up should be pretty good/low scoring & what have you.
The Gnats can win all they want right now, it’s proberbly that tramboline at the bottom of the NL West, when teams hit it they start winning again and bounce right back up. Tonight we’ll have to see what this Jack Cassell has up his sleeve. Got to play like there’s no tommorrow even though there’s a month left. KEEP GOING THERE’S NO TIME TO STOP.
Andy LaRoche needs to start at least one game this series.
The Phills seem to be re-energized since Utley came off the DL. Sweeping the Mets with 3 come from behind wins in dramatic fashion. They have the easier task of taking on the Marlins this weekend than the Dodgers do against the Pads. The Marlins are in a tailspin while the Pads are doing much better. What looked like a Dback blowout laugher last night turned into a nail biter at the end with Bradley hitting a dinger in the bottom of the ninth to get within one run. The Pads are showing they are just as resilient as the Dodgers as of late with more offensive production. The journey is going to be more adventurous as time goes on. The Phillies have the easier road for sure.
I’m looking forward to the roster expansion, and having Laroche, and Abreu brought back up again. I think they both could play a huge part in this chase to the playoffs.
I’m really worried about this game and this series. We rarely do well against guys we haven’t seen and today is the case. I hope we can step up against the Padres tonight and this weekend. Padres are playing great baseball and sure we swept the Nats, but they are the Nats. We need to take 2 of 3 and hope the other teams in the wild card race lose. Lets go DODGERS!!! Show the league what your made of!!
I was looking at those #’s some poster generously put up for us to see, I’m pretty stoked to know Matt Kemp has really good #’s at PetCo Park.
LET’S TAKE THE SERIES OR BUST!!!
I have one spot on my fantasy team open who should I start?
I’m leanin towards Ethier.
Ethier
Loney
Furcal
Please vote…
.
We need this guy pitching for the BIG CLUB ALREADY!!! [ http://tinyurl.com/27vt6f ] the dude has absolutly SICK #’S throw out his minor league career!
.
diehard, I’m saying Loney is overdue to blow-up, Ethier is the safer bet but I have a feeling about Loney. I had the same prediciment to start the week but I also have Kemp so thats who I rolled with.
for fantasy it has to be Furcal right? not unless you have a faster SS already on your roster.
I’m thinking this is for his DH so I say LONEY.
I have Tulowitski. I love Furcal but Tulowitski is playing the Dbacks facing Livan Hernandez
I have Rollins on my squad so Furcal never touches my starting lineup.
I have Martin,Crawford,Phillips they get my steals. I also have Hawpe starting over Ethier should I go with my heart and start Ethier?
I see our boys in blue thowing up some runs today so you might as well roll the dice with Andre. Besides Hawpe is very streaky isn’t he?
super streaky. But I think Livan is garbage. I’ll go with Ethier nothing better than watching our boys crush the mads and help my fantasy team!!
alex–thanks for the clarification. I am surpirsed at the rule–that means that not only could, say, Tim Hamulack be called up (he’s on the 40-man roster but never been on the active roster this season), but so could Clayton Kershaw (not even on the 40-man roster). I would ask if you are sure, but I trust you are correct. My best information comes from Rob Neyer’s old transactions primer http://espn.go.com/mlb/s/transanctionsprimer.html, but he says that Official Professional Baseball Rules Book (different from the Official Rules, which govern the actual play) is not avaialalbe. But it’s old–is this stuff on-line anywhere???
Big game tonight! Big series this weekend! Our best 8 going. It’s the pennant or bust!!!
Hey drpdedblnd – Regarding your post from the previous thread – In my opinion, Garrett Atkins would be a very good acquisition. In his seven seasons in the Bigs, he has a .295 career avg., a .365 OPB, a .476 SLG. He has 63 career home runs, of which 29 were from last season and he has 20 (so far) this season. He is 27 years old and is a So. Cal native (Orange, CA).
As much as I like Andy LaRoche and as much as he is tearing it up in Triple-A, I am not convinced that he can put up those kind of numbers with the Big club, but you just never know.
GO WELLS!
GO DODGERS!
check out atkins home/road splits. bet they’re not pretty.
As to the Dodgers-relevant series that I mentioned in the last thread, the Phillies are up 6-1 in the 6th and the Mets are beating the Braves 4-0 in the 5th.
leekfink: your message to alex posted above has no antecedent that I could find in today’s posts. I assume it was about the rules for post season rosters. Please elaborate.
Atkins this year is hitting .319 at Coors and .240 on the road.
In his career he’s .326 at Coors and .266 on the road.
So in my view……..
Andy LaRoche > Garret Atkins
KENT & MARTIN Total 34 homeruns,and 26 from the restof tonight’s starters
Got to suffer through the Padre broadcast tonight.
Way to go Kent! Glad the Dodgers scored 1st.
Tough break at third but PIERRE’S Speed and KENT’s talent put us up by 1
Huge double by Kent which should of been a triple but a little bit of bad luck carried him off the base.
^^^^^^
Would somebody please teach Pathetic Pierre how to bunt….
Also teach our team how to run the bases…
We ran right out of another possible big inning….
DAMMMMM Does this **** on the bases never end????
great job Kent. Kent was PISSED he said kouz threw his arm off the bag. Come on Wells, get through the first!
i hope the media writes an article about that. They did when Kemp screwed up on the bases.
SIT DOWN MILTON!!!!!!!
i was kinda hoping boomer just hit him in his mouth.
MARTIN saved us a from a run.
We’d better be prepared to score a bunch of runs tonight!
Kent was only pissed ’cause he overslid the bag. I watched again, thinking that Kouz pushed him off, but naw, he just overslid it.
Oopsie, Pierre! Can your offense make up for that dumb error? I kinda doubt it 😉
Pierre can’t play outfield and he can’t bunt.
ohhhhh
What happened there???
not a good start
C’mon Boomer! Stop the bleeding!
freaking Pierre.
unbelievable…your not going to win september games playing like that, my god
Is it just me or are the Padres constantly getting lucky breaks against us?
Sure looks like they’re going to have to score a bunch of runs if this keeps up.
Just gotta gettem back.
I’ll give it another few innings before deciding to call it doom and gloom but BOY, bad start ( thanks again to that wizard in center field ).
Pads certainly get their share of breaks. Or perhaps the Dodgers just play intimidated against them because the Pads have a rep as a good team. I don’t want to believe that, though.
GO, Dodgers! Let’s see what you’re really made of. Sweeping the Nats in three by playing from behind and winning by a single run each time is cool and all, but now you’re throwin’ down with the big boys.
Pierrre & Kent are responsible for 3 or 4 runs & we are only in the 1st inning…….
Could this team look any more ridiculous????
Pierre’s mistake was he didn’t act like he was having trouble.
LaRoche just hit a JACK.
We really gotta get to this nobody on the mound.
rough
wow he is out of shape!
LaRoche follows up HR with an error which later leads to 3 unearned runs. His 9th of the year.
This “nobody” for the Padres just demonstrates the difference in style between the two teams. The Padres call on their minor league for a pitcher when they need one. We resort to someone who’s been cut by them and hope for the best. I’m rooting that Wells can pull it together, but can we really expect that he’ll be some kind of salvation all of a sudden. We don’t want to trust the pennant fight assignments to our younger pitchers.
3 up. 3 down. That’s more like it.
Nice 2nd inning, Wells had a bad break in the 1st.
Good point, Mess.
Pierre losing the ball is the obvious mistake, but another big mistake happened before that when Wells gave Adrian Gonzalez something to hit on an 0-2 count and he singled in the first run. Pierre losing the ball was demoralizing, no doubt.
Fuq Juan Pierre. I can’t stand that fuquing ni**er.
Well i think we can say that post will be deleted and hopefully soon. What a pathetic loser
Would somebody please beat that fuqing ni**er Juan Pierre in the kneecaps with a hammer.
I cannot believe this guy dealing on us.
Typical Dodger Baseball…get dealt on by a guy you should light up.
Mess:
Btw, I agree with everything you said.
Fuq Juan Pierre. Fuqing ni**er!!
Orange:
Get the “F” out of here!
Orange:
You’re a piece of ****
We can’t lose this game on a pop up.
i say just ignore the troll…they tend to go away once they realize no one gives a hoot about what they have to say.
This is not the right blog for talking that kind of smack orange. A.M.F.!!
Take a hike!
Great Job Kent!!!
This guy has been throwin first pitch strikes all night…Put a charge in it Andre
wolf is gonna have surgery
Lets go Russ pick up Ethier!!!!
NICE RUSS!!!
YEAH!!!! Atta BOY RUSS!!!!!!
Clutch RBI by Martin picking up Ethier who had a bad AB.
NIIICE! Martin is the man!!
Nice goin’ MARTIN
This guy is very hittable…we just have to take a relaxed approach
LAZER!!!!!!!!
Shea looks terrible!
I think the Pads have the book on Hillebrand. He’s seen six pitches two strikes outs!!Pathetic!
Ethier and Hillenbrand had no clue what was coming at all that inning
Rally killing Hilly! Can’t wait for Laroche, and Abreu to come back, or maybe even Nomar.
This where I think Bill Mueller could do a lot to change Ethier and Hillz approach at the plate.
Like I said, this guy is very hittable, they just have to relax, see the ball, hit the ball.
It’s a one run game we’re doing alright against this kid.
Rockies have the bases loaded nobody out against Livan Hernandez Top 6 No Score
Can I ask what a ‘relaxed’ approach mean? Or do you mean don’t swing at sinkers out of the strike zone. Swing at strikes
I have a question:
Why was Pierre’s gaffe not ruled an error?
Diehard:
I’m not exactly sure what I mean by “relaxed.”
I guess all I’m trying to say is that these should see they aren’t facing Nolan Ryan out there; there really is no need to out-think anyone here.
Well the easy way to explain it Manny is the ball was never touched, if you watch a lot of games at Wrigley you see it a lot.
Thanks Alex
So if a ball goes between your legs and you don’t touch it its a hit? That should’ve been an error. You can’t rule that a sun double with no sun.
good point diehare
I don’t write the rules, but a ball through the legs is different. But, if a ball drops because you lose it in the lights it is a hit. Livan got out of it no score Bottom 6 in AZ.
You still here?
I think if the Dodgers hit that ball they call it an error. That’s not in the rules its the score keepers discretion.
now is a good time to bunt wells
Yes, but 99.9 % of the time a ball lost in the lights/sun/etc… and drops untouched will be scored a hit.
To me sun and lights are two different things. You should never lose a ball in the lights. That’s just me.
man…pierre’s statline looks horrible
put the bottle down and go to bed orange.
Keep the faith.
diehard
you can lose the ball just as easily in the lights as you can in the sun. easpecially wen you dont play on the field on a regular basis
I don’t know not in a Big League stadium its not his first game at pet food he’s been in the NL his whole carrer. Plus I’ve seen about every Dodger game at Petco I don’t ever remember anyone losing a ball in the lights. Some parks WERE notorious for that.
BLOWBERTO warming up!
Oh man
I wonder what Grady’s magic number is tonight (pitch count) for pulling the plug on Wells. After the shaky 1st inning, he’s settled in, and done a good job.
I hope Blowberto is just getting rid of some rust. He would be my LAST choice to bring in…..
Why would blowberto come in? everyone is rested.
clutch up again TURTLE!!
YEAH!!!! RUSSELL MARTIN!!!!!!!!!
is loiaza sched to start anytime soon for us?
DODGERTIME BABY RUSSEL THE LOVE MUSCLE WAY TO GO!!!!!!!!!!!
MARTIN AGAIN!
ATTA WAY TO GO MARTIN We’RE ARE EVEN
Martin delivers!
If Loney walks we should pinch hit gonzo!!!!!
I don’t think I breath when Kent runs.
gonzo right here would be a great move or Sweeney.
NEITHER DOES HE
If this were the eighth inning diehardblu I’d agree, we’d have to go back to back lefties pinch hitting, it’s too soon.
No way gets a lead in the sixth we might not get a better chance
why wait for their shutdown bullpen. Hillebrand has seen 9 PITCHES!!!!3 K’s
You can’t blow your bench in the sixth inning, so we bite the bullet on that third strikeout.
How are you blowing your bench? You take lead and let Beimel, Brox, and Saito do their thing. Your utilizing your bench not blowing it Hillebrand has looked LOST at the plate all night.
If you PH Sweeney or Gonzo for Hillenbrand, you have to PH for Wells after him, after that Martinez has to play third base. In the sixth inning you would have blown your bench only Saenz and Lieberthal would be left. You can’t PH for Hillenbrand this soon. You just can’t.
That FIRST INNING was CLUNKER
WELLS DID WELL.
Why do you need so many people on the bench. The pitcher is only going to bat one more time. I would rather roll my dice in the sixth. we can’t worry about whats going to happen in the eight.
No decision for Wells.
2 questions:Do Kent and Donnelly deserve any credit on that run scoring?
Am I the only one who didn’t realize Loaiza was activated today?
Plus if you get the lead you don’t have to pinch hit for Wells you can let him go one more only 81 pitches.
Because if you do what you suggested and Kent gets hurt, what do you do? Or anybody in the outfield? You would have blown our 4th outfielder and lefty PH and put our backup infielder in the game in the 6th inning. If this game were tomorrow and Abreu/Laroche were here this would be a completely different issue, then you can PH for Hillenbrand. But today with 25 men you can’t.
Hillerbrand has more at bats against other pitchers.
OOPS!
Why are suggesting Kent is going to get hurt? C’mon were playing for first place its almost Sept. Kent would play through an injury.
WWWWWWOOOOOOOOO
Rudy’s ERA goes way way up with runners on base. take him out!
what did i say!
Pierre got an assist, what the heck?
Well it’s inherited runners he does badly against, but I get your point.
Pierre got an assist.
It is heartening to see our lineup get down to the task of scoring runs by hitting anything close to the strike zone, good pitch to hit or no.
Nice going Mets, Keep Braves off our backs.
Yeah Pierre 2nd assists of the year.
Not to come to Rudy’s defense, but I still have more confidence in him rather than Blowberto.
Me too people are complaining about him on the gameday thread.
The Dodgers still haven’t replaced Bradley at 3rd.
Beimel’s Bombing here.
Not a good night for the bullpen so far….
Com’on Guys your work is cut out for you, but you can do it.
rockies tied it.
Not good. Guess the cue to play “Hells Bells” will be coming up shortly there at pet food.
Glad the Rocks tied it up. Valverde’s over rated. Look at his ERA compared to Saitos. Like double.
LaRoche just hit a go ahead two run shot for Vegas. He has two HR’s 4 RBI’s 4 hits and 4 runs scored tonight. Just think he could start at third base tomorrow night!
It’s Sept 1, for me.
Hoffman to blow it>>>>I HOPE.
If BERT don’t blow it first.
Someone needs to explain to me how Meloan would not have been a better alternative than Seanez or Hernandez since August 1? All he’s done is post a sub 2.00 era since he was drafted. If the Yankees can bring up Chamberlain, what is the reason for the reluctance to bring up Meloan?
Vegas has not used any pitchers tonight, i.e., Meloan, Hull or Houlton who may be called up tomorrow
Highest velocity I’ve seen from Roberto since he came on board. Always an adventure with him on the mound though. Hope the boys in blue can rustle up some magic to pull this off….
MMMMM If LaRoche started at third tomorrow night i’d freak out!
I’d expect LaRoche, Meloan, Houlton, Stults, Abreu(if healthy) and Chad Moller will be our call ups tonight.
Imagine that! Hilly can’t hit the kid, but gets one off Hoffman!!
Lowe needs to pitch game of his life tomorrow night against Peavey
4-3 Rockies Top 10 and have a runner at second nobody out
Why or why is Hoffman always facing us when approaching a milestone? 😦
Hull and Young should be called up as well.
Is it just me, or does the strike zone seem to enlarge when Hoffman’s on the mound?
Big hit by Pierre and Kemp can tie this with one swing
Good shot PIERRE COM’ON Kemp
Difference was the bullpen
we ****
Alright, go get them tomorrow gotta steal one from Peavy. Tough tough game tomorrow and the kids are coming!
LET’S GET ‘EM TOMORROW NIGHT.
we’re terrible
As usual, Hoffman steps in dung, and comes out smelling like a rose. Not a good start for the series ending the short lived winning streak. I hope they fare better tomorrow against Peavy. I also hope Lowe has his ‘A’ game working tomorrow.
The LOS VEGAS crew will be here—– HAve no fear.
Pierre is useless.
Said it when they got him.
Saying it now.
Anti-clutch.
Get hits/makes plays when it doesn’t matter.
will laroche be handed 3rd beginning tomorrow?
I really do hope LaRoche started at 3rd bases tomorrow.
jkeezell: Truly only curious, do you know anything about Meloan besides his stats?
The putrid’s announcers said they are calling up Brady Clark and Bryan Myrow tomorrow! C’mon Dodgers! Have some pride! We should be able to beat this team!
I thought we lost Clark. I wish we still had Bigbie.
Arizona just lost to Colorado, S.D moves into a first place tie with Arizona. We remain four games back in the division heading into September.
Spitball,
Those are the Padres callups!We get better tommorrow with our callups. We should be expecting LaRoche, Young, Valdez, Hu, Abreu and Meloan
Wonder when who was called up will be posted on the website. A few are no brainers, but you never know with Grady….
Yeah sorry but I did remember we lost Clark but it would be fun to have him back and dropped Saenz or Hernandez.
At least the 6 from dodger5 are mostly right.
alex41592: “LaRoche just hit a go ahead two run shot for Vegas. He has two HR’s 4 RBI’s 4 hits and 4 runs scored tonight…”
Ixnay on my earlier comments about Garrett Atkins – LaRoche is our guy!
And thanks for not beating up on Pierre too badly tonight guys. Anyone who has ever played in the outfield knows that those things happen to everybody. His pick at third was sweet, albeit too little too late.
Boomer was outstanding (again) tonight.
COME ON BOYS – LET’S TAKE 2 OF 3!
GO D-LOWE!
GO DODGERS!
I made a comment earlier, I guess nobody noticed it. If anybody did thanks for not making me look bad. I just realized I got Milton Bradley Mixed up with Adrian Beltre.
I noticed, but I knew what you meant. I’ll ask again, did you get my e-mails?
Pierre,
I noticed but was confused by it. Hey, their last name starts with a B and it has a r and an e 🙂
laroche goes 4-6 with two bombs and 4 rbi tonite.. somebody get on his level!
Pierre–I noticed, but I just logged on. So, no harm no foul. But you’re right–and until Beltre, we had never really replaced Ron Cey! But with Shea Hillenbrand’s three K’s tonight, I have to expect we will see Andy LaRoche starting tomorrow (today), and maybe there is our replacement.
Miketink–I was not logged on until after the game, but I was responding to alex41592’s post from yesterday. Alex said that we did not have to have Loazia on the 25-man roster before September 1 to be on the post-season roster. He said that he only needed to be on the 40-man roster (or even in the minor league organization). I have always thought that a player has to have been on the 25-man roster at some point prior to September 1 (thus, even though LaRoche won’t be on the roster until tomorrow, since he has been up, he’s eligible).
I have found that I agree with Alex most of the time (not sure if I agree with his logic about not hitting for Shea tonight, but maybe, and he’s usually right), so I trusted he was right here. That being said, it seems that he was wrong since they optioned Stults down.
I wonder if Josh could give us the explanation on the rule (once he scrubs those racist posts) and whether the 10-day rule applies here (a player sent down usually cannot be recalled for 10 days, unless there is an injury).
This was a very disappointing game. When we get a pitching performance like this from the back half of the rotation, we HAVE to capitalize on it. It’s not enough to jut win when Penny Lowe and Bills pitch.
And, once again, bad fundamentals by a lot of guys. Somethings happen, like over-sliding a base or even losing a flyball, but there were a lot of counts that we did not work (though Cassell was throwing strikes, to be sure). All year long, our talent has been superior, but the fundamentals never always quite there. It’s awfully hard to teach in September, but this is where veteran leadership really has to take charge.
Big game tomorrow(today). Huge. Make or break. We cannot afford to lose 2 of 3 to the Padres (we can’t really afford to have lost tonight, but you can’t expect a sweep).
My mistake was thinking they could go an extra day without making a move and just simply add Loaiza tomorrow (well now it’s today), but because the waiver claim was finalized Wednesday, he had to be placed on the active roster Friday. So, Stults had to be optioned. For instance, Trachsel won’t be added to the roster of the Cubs until today (Saturday), because his trade took place Friday so he doesn’t have to report until September 1st (today), so they do not need to make a move. It’s very complicated, I mostly understand it, but would also like an explanation to how everything works with postseason eligibility.
Chin-Lung Hu, Jon Meloan, D.J. Houlton and 3rd string catcher Chad Moeller up on Saturday.
http://www.beloblog.com/Pe_Blogs/baseball/dodgers/
Francisco Rodriguez didn’t make his major league debut until September 18th, 2002 and he was on the Angels World Series Championship team. So, I know that if you are apart of the organization before September 1st you are eligible for postseason play. You do not necessarily have to be on the 25 man roster before September 1st, just in the organization.
alex, the bottom line is Loaiza had to be on the active roster by 8/31. If not, then he had to be playing for us in the minors by then.
“Big games like this, it’s all about momentum,” Pierre said. “And I let the momentum swing back to their side. I take responsibility for this loss.”
YOU SHOULD NEVER LOSE A BALL IN THE LIGHTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Alex I’m glad grady kept his bench fresh. Kent didn’t get hurt and he finished the game like he does 90% of the time. Way to get a hit in the 9th Hillerand he leaves 5 LOB his first three at bats correct me if I’m wrong but he saw 9 pitches!!! NINE!!!! good morning, good afternoon, good nite THREE STRAIGHT TIMES!!!!!! I’m sorry but I rather pinch hit in the sixth to try to get a lead before we get into that Padre bullpen. Thanks for wasting LaRoche’s 2Hr performance in Triple A. Grady would have had him on the bench anyways. BIG LOSS it really hurt us.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not giving up, at the end of the day The blood is still blue.
But as a team, this squad is fundamentally weak and time and again fails to execute and another game that should have been won slips away. The Dodgers are my boys, and win or lose. They always will be. This unit does not look like a play-off caliber team.
PLEASE go out tonight and prove me wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don’t know why Gonzo is taking so much heat on this blog. He’s probably known from the beginning he would not be in blue next year. He can see the writing on the wall and plainly called a spade a spade. That is not whining.
I think it has come down to this MUST GAME tonight, and we’re matched up against our nemesis and arguably the best pitcher in NL. Without winning tonight we don’t have a chance to win this all-important series, and I would have to count the Dodgers out, even though some will argue that mathematically we’ll still be able to do it.
As far as I’m concerned, the pennant and playoff chance will not have been lost in this series. It would have been lost in the off-season through imprudent and sometimes unlucky signings and over the earlier part of the season through plain bad management of the personnel that we did have on this club. If we don’t pull through and make it, the accountablity will be strictly on Colletti’s and Little’s watch, and the result will be UNACCEPTABLE.
I think it has come down to this MUST GAME tonight, and we’re matched up against our nemesis and arguably the best pitcher in NL. Without winning tonight we don’t have a chance to win this all-important series, and I would count the Dodgers out, even though some will argue that mathematically we’ll still be able to do it.
As far as I’m concerned, the pennant and playoff chance will not have been lost in this series. It would have been lost in the off-season through imprudent and sometimes unlucky signings and over the earlier part of the season through plain bad management of the personnel that we did have on this club. If we don’t pull through and make it, the accountablity will be strictly on Colletti’s and Little’s watch, and the result will be UNACCEPTABLE.
Sorry about the double post – it was not intended for emphasis.
I don’t think I’m alone in noticing that as the sun rosed on this lovely September morn, that their are 20 teams that are either in first place or less then double digets away. Reminds me of that old song, HIGH HOPES. Don’t get me wrong, I’m looking forward to an exciting finish. I think we got a chance. I’m looking more so to the future, unlike many I think the moves by management were not as bad as some see them. I think there were some bad ones especially early. I think they see the errors, and lately they are doing a good job in amending them. Most of our young got a wonderful major league experience and this will show in the years to come. I think we will see less playing time from our veterents but their presence will be of the utmost importance.
FANSINCE 53, YES I got your e-mail.
Pierre’s 2007 splits points to the fact that he is not often able to contribute in key situations. For instance, with men on and two out, he hits .258 with a .280 OBP.
Even worse, with a man on third and less than 2 out, he is hitting only .154. Mostly because he do not have the power to hit a sac fly, so his outs pile up while more capable batters at least get the sac fly sometimes that doesn’t hurt the BA. He does have a .278 OBP in that situation, so he’s been able to get on and set up the DP.
How about other hitting situations?
The only 2007 situation where he’s done well is with a runner on third – .500 BA and .500 OBP in 12 PA.
In the other situations, it is terrible:
First and Second: .167 BA, .167 OBP in 30 PA
First and Third: .000 BA, .250 BA in 9 PA
Second and Third .222 BA in 9 PA
Bases loaded: .077 BA in 13 PA
Close and Late: .235 BA, .264 OBP in 81 PA
Scoring position, 2 out: .246 BA, 257 OBP in 69 PA
All of these can be summarized by this stat line:
None on: .292 BA, .329 OBP
Runners on: .285 BA, .313 SLG
Runners in scoring position: .223 BA, .250 SLG. Ouch.
Pierre in 2007 has been painfully anti-clutch.
I thought that he may have been pushing to try and justify that huge, dumb contract Colletti put around his neck ( I hope that is Colletti’s worst signing ever, because watching the Dodgers will be painful to watch if he signs something worse ).
So, look at his three-year splits:
None on: .306 BA, .345 OBP
Runners on: .279 BA, .339 OBP
Scoring position: .261 BA, .342 OBP
While he has been historically slightly better, it is not that much. Nope, we’ve pretty much opened the bag and seen the cat in it. Whoo-hoo.
Comparison numbers for others:
Kent
None on: .288 BA, .354 OBP
Runners on: .308 BA, .393 OBP
Scoring position: .309 BA, .413 OBP
Gonzalez
None on: .303 BA, .372 OBP
Runners on: .254 BA, .345 OBP
Scoring position: .244 BA, .352 OBP
Ethier
None on: .276 BA, .326 OBP
Runners on: .310 BA, .390 OBP
Scoring position: .298 BA, .394 OBP
Martinez
None on: .113 BA, .167 OBP
Runners on: .271 BA, .314 OBP
Scoring position: .282 BA, .327 OBP
Furcal
None on: .271 BA, .335 OBP
Runners on: .289 BA, .360 OBP
Scoring position: .263 BA, .348 OBP
Martin
None on: .296 BA, .384 OBP
Runners on: .302 BA, .379 OBP
Scoring position: .305 BA, .401 OBP
Kent and Martin is quite balanced, able to start a rally or contribute to it. Gonzalez isn’t clutch at all. Martinez is remarkably clutch. Furcal suffers a little when it comes to bringing runners in. Ethier is good at it.
But Pierre isn’t worth his contract to me.
Has anyone ever tried to argue that pierre is worth his contract? Would love to here that argument….
I’d like to hear that argument too. I am afraid I am unable to phantom how it could be made, myself.
My entire time on this blog, i don’t think i’ve seen 1 person/argument pointing to the assertion that pierre is worth every penny of his contract, and more. That simply isn’t possible in my opinion..
However, as shown above, there are tons of arguments/stats/assertions pointing to the direct opposite, as if it’s breaking news that pierre isn’t living up to his paycheck and isn’t worth his contract.
Such is life on insidedodgers.. 🙂
Somewhere higher up on the blog somebody was saying something to the effect that Pierre wasn’t all that clutch and tended to make plays when they didn’t matter more than he tended to make them when they did.
So I decided to go look at the numbers to see whether that is a perception created by his bad night, or in fact supported by numbers and trends. Turns out that the numbers seem to support that perception.
Contracts:
Dreifort > Pierre
The Pierre record and perception probably tells us why it will be nearly impossible to trade him to some other team. Assuming that this will not get done, Pierre should probably be returned to his lead-off position in the lineup. There’s the possibility that he’s simply more used to and better suited to batting lead-off. Let’s also recognize that Furcal has not been very effective in that position this season, and certainly not worth the big contract that he has with the Dodgers. I and many others have stated during the season that he’s never fully recovered from his ankle injury, and we can fault the management for not insisting on DL’ing him in order to get him back to 100%. Since he will be in his last contract year in 2008, I would consider him for possible trade bait next year.
Furcal in his walk year he will have a carrer year next year why trade hin and rush Hu. The problem is when your two batter should be batting lead off 50+ steals and leadoff should be hitting two 10+ steals. I don’t get Little’s Line Ups ALL year. That has been the problem with our inconsitent offense and defense is our inconsistent line ups.
who wants to bet gonzo’s slow swing will start against Peavy tonight?
Are we sure that it was management that forced him to play? Or was it that and a combination of the fact that Furcal didn’t want to sit out? Despite his poor season I give credit to Furcal for playing hurt. Its also possible that he was stubborn enough to refuse going on the DL, even though in the long run it would have helped the team. I wouldn’t trade him unless we felt that he could do without his offense, which when healthy is superior for ****.
I’m praying that Laroche starts tonight
I can pretty much guarantee Gonzo will be starting tonight. 18 for 48 4 HR’s 12 RBI’s 1.184 OPS against Peavy. I understand he’s a different player now, but you have to start those numbers. Peavy kills right handed pitching this season .164 BAA, lefties actually are hitting .251 this season. Hillenbrand actually is a rare righty who has great success against Peavy (7 for 17, 2 HR’s). So as much as some of us love the youth movement. You have to go veteran tonight. The numbers don’t lie Gonzo and Hillenbrand should start tonight and probably will. Feel free to disagree as some of you will, but those numbers don’t lie. Also, Juan Pierre should be the one who is benched, (3 for 21 lifetime against Peavy). Matt Kemp has never faced Peavy before, I don’t like his chances against him so Pierre probably gets the start. I think I said that last time we faced Peavy. Should be an interesting lineup tonight.
Why wouldn’t LaRoche be starting tonight?
Also, they may wait until the Vegas season ends on Monday to bring up LaRoche and Abreu so they can get the maximum amount of AB’s before being called up. Key word is ‘may’ we’ll see.
{fansince53} I am unable to logon.
That would be a typical Colletti move to keep LaRoche down for meaningless AAA games rather than getting him up here ASAP for the Shea Dog!!!
Hillenbrand striking out on three pitches twice last night should have been enough!
My assessment of the Furcal, Pierre situation is that we need both or at least one of them. This eliment of the game is necessary for all teams. Bunting and basestealing has won many a game. Speed is essential. Furcal should be alright after some rest, over the winter. We must get our power from the numbers 3 to 8 spot in the order and also from Furcal who provides occasional power. Pierre’s job is to get on base and defensively should be able to get to any ball that is in fair territory in the outfield.
Kemp has to face Peavy sometime. I’d take my chances with Kemp rather then Gonzo.
Meloan and Hu tonight!!!
They were both taken off the Vegas roster (along with Houlton and Moeller).
I love Kemp and do not want Gonzo playing as much as the next guy, but frontline righties are the time to give Gonzo his token starts.
Peavy, Zambrano, Webb, Smoltz, and Orlando Hernandez make sense for Kemp to sit against.
While some of the criticism thrown JP’s way has been a little harsh, NO, he is not worth his contract. The Dodgers have not had a guy like that since Kirk Gibson.
What do you mean by the Pierre and Gibson comparison?
I would love to see Meloan and Hu in a Dodger uniform tonight. Although I think there’s a chance they may have been optioned to AA so they can play for Jacksonville in the playoffs.
kpy85-
Jacksonville has been eliminated from playoff contention (they are 5 games out with only 4 left including today’s doubleheader).
Meloan and Hu have been called-up. It’s all but confirmed.
It’s official:
Meloan, Hu, Houlton and Moeller are all in San Diego for tonight’s game:
http://www.beloblog.com/Pe_Blogs/baseball/dodgers/
Thank goodness… hopefully Blowberto will never be used in a meaningful (or any) game again.
I personally can’t wait to see Meloan’s first game, nothing would give me more pleasure than to see him do well tonight against the Padres. Though I still don’t see him being a factor, or rather being allowed to be a factor. But, when the opportunity is given to him he must come through, the leash is short when you’re a September callup. No pressure of course…
alex–OK, OK, I should not have questioned. You seem to be right about how the transactions work. It sounds like what you’re saying is that Loazia had to be on the active roster today not in order to be eligible for the playoffs but because of some rule related when a player claimed off of waivers has to report. We need access to these rules!
That being said, I am hoping you’re wrong tonight about Shea starting. You seem to be right, because it appears that LaRoche is not getting recalled yet, but it’s time to give him a chance.
pierreseastmeetswest, as usual, I think, is right about where we are as a team and where we’re going.
Pierre, or anyone else playing now, is not worth the money.
Gibson was. I believe it was right after his seasons with the Dodgers that the MLB salaries really started to get out of hand. I think Gibson got around 1 million and was worth every penny.
But I’d give Gibson (in his prime)twice what JP is getting if that was what it took to get him back in blue. I think the Dodgers could use someone with his temperament right about now.