Headed to the Fort
The team bus left this morning at 7 a.m. for Fort Myers and the game will be televised on ESPN at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT. That means three of our next four games will be on TV for you all to watch, as Saturday and Sunday will be on KCAL 9, with Vin Scully live from Florida.
I’m staying at Dodgertown to work on various China- and Coliseum-related things, but I’ll obviously be watching the game from afar.
For the person who mentioned James McDonald, I’m not sure when he’s scheduled to pitch but I’m fairly certain there’s nothing wrong with him. I think the issue is just that we have a ton of pitchers in camp this spring, mostly because of the trip to China that will create the split-squads, so you’ll probably see more of him once Tommy is managing half the team here in Vero. It seems like most of the guys getting work in right now are the veterans who are more likely to make the Opening Day roster and I think it’s safe to say that James likely isn’t in that group just yet, given that he hasn’t pitched at Triple-A yet. But, there was a great article on him in the Orange County Register recently by columnist Mark Whicker, so check it out if you haven’t seen it.
Here’s the lineup for today:
Pierre, LF
Furcal, SS
Martin, C
Kemp, RF
LaRoche, 3B
Lindsey, DH
Paul, CF
Tiffee, 1B
Martinez, 2B
Lowe, P
Inside the Dodgers 
Thanks Josh! Great article on McDonald.
fogey – hard to tell on Torre. He gives so many mixed signals. Yesterday he said if Kent were out for any length of time that Abreu or Young would be capable replacements. Which to me was a sign that Young’s got a spot on the team.
I can’t for the life of me believe if he’s his own man that he can look at Ethier/Jones/Kemp and still trot out JP/Jones/Platoon. But he’s said he liked what JP did against him in 2003. 2003!! That’s only 4 seasons and 2000 outs ago.
As far as Jeter goes, was there anyone standing in his way like JP or Nomar?
Considering that GM is above manager I’m sure Ned’s got some influence on who plays.
I’m hoping its like another poster said on the last thread that they’re trying to showcase JP this spring. Let’s face it, other than a SB, Repko and Young are 110% better late inning defensive replacements, and both have speed, so that actually kills that late inning PR argument as well.
Again, mixed signals on LR, but I think he has a better shot as Torre has already had the talk with Nomar about being the super-sub.
My other two big fears are that Nomar and Kent have decent years and Ned signs them on for another season or two, thus further retarding the youth movement.
No matter what happens I’ll still follow the Ds – that’s deep in the blood, but until they quit bringing in the old has-beens and never-were’s, they just won’t be “special” like those 70’s teams.
Here’s the trouble with having people like Kent and Nomar on the team. They’ll get a slight injury of some kind, but they’ll try to come back before they’re 100% thinking that they’re really tough and doing something for the team. Because they’re such venerable veterans, management will give them the chance to play. They’ll never complain that they’re not fully healthy. In the meantime, they’ll underperform enough to ruin our whole season. I’ve go to believe that this was part of Nomar’s problem last year. Superimpose on that Mr. Conte, who doesn’t seem to know ****, and having those kind of veterans really messes with the team whether by intention or not.
Let’s hope that JP is being showcased, but I doubt it.
Alright Torre. Look Dodger fans in the eyes without blinking and tell us that JP is the better player.
What a shame for Ethier to be on the bench. And if Kemp has to sit to keep that STUPID consecutive game streak alive when Ethier plays will be TOTAL BS!
FRANK MCCOURT!!!!!
DON’T LET IT HAPPEN!!!!
Nice article on the “debate”:
http://sportsblogs.latimes.com/sports_baseball_dodgers/2008/03/another-install.html
Hey Josh,
What about some info on the guy who’s taking over for me this year. I heard his name is Josh Suchon. I also heard he was the Giants’ beat writer for the Oakland tribune. I also heard that he wrote a book on the Giants’ “magical” 2001 season.
Thanks for the McDonald update, Josh! (That was I who asked.) Makes total sense. It’s just that Kershaw pitched – which was awesome – and McDonald had originally been on the schedule so I wondered if there were something else going on. Would still be nice for Torre to get a glimpse at him, since he’s considered not that far away. Anyway, that’s fine – hopefully will get to see him next week. Cheers.
Great article and rebuttal to Plaschke’s lame defense of Pierre. I can’t believe he wrote about having a world series ring is a reason for him to start over Ethier. How lame is that. Grabbing at straws. Kent doesn’t have a ring. It’s his 20 jacks and 90 rbi’s that keep him on the field. God knows that is his only positive. Hey Juan, want to deserve to start in left? Get your crummy OBP up above .360.
Can’t wait for Vin Scully all weekend!
How many of us in our childhood had to sit and watch someone who wasn’t as good somehow play more than us on one of our youth teams??
Now Joe Torre and Ned Colletti are going help us relive that misery and unfairness by not playing the BEST players that DESERVE it!
Dodgers: Why do insist on screwing us over like this?
How many of those old Dodger teams kept old-times and lesser ballplayers in the way of up and coming young guys? You had about a year of transition, then Yeager gave way to Scioscia. Lopes to Sax.
Garvey, Russell, Cey – though their replacements weren’t so memorable, the Ds still made room for them. That was back in the good old days though when the philosophy was “better one year too early than one year too late.”
I have a feeling Kent is going to be in the one year too late category – just a gut feeling.
Thing is in 5-6 years, I want to be able to have the debate that Loney, Kemp, Martin, Ethier et al. are in the way of the next crop of good young ballplayers. That’s the healthiest situation imaginable for the Dodger’s organization… and we as fans.
Pierre’s speed and base running prowess are useless if he is not on base. And, he doesn’t get on base at even the league average. Much less, at an OBP of a good leadoff hitter. It has already been figured out mathematically by writers and bloggers that playing Ethier equates to 3-4 more wins a season compared to playing Pierre. How can you start Pierre and immediately forfeit 3 to 4 games. OK DBacks, Padres, and Rockies; we are going to start the season 0 and 4 so you guys can have a fair shot at the division title. 3 or 4 games is huge. Especially in the NL West. Geez, I guess I am just the 800 pound Gorilla in the room.
And obviously you have to bring in an occasional “outsider” to fill a specific need or bridge a gap in the farm system. That’s where the Reggie Smiths, Kirk Gibsons and Rick Mondays come into play, but you’ve got to do it smart. If you feel you have a player that’s only a year or two away, you don’t trade for or sign a guy for that position for 3-4 years, lest you put yourself in a situation like we have now. I mean really, with a tiny bit of foresight, wouldn’t you have resigned Lofton to another one-year?
Bananas pleez for jhall !!
I and my soapbox now yield the floor…
On another note, it baffles me that some bloggers out there are still talking about making a trade for a 3rd baseman. What have you been watching? Beside the fact that there really isn’t a good 3rd baseman available(don’t give me that Inge bull$hit either),Nomar and LaRoche are both playing great so far. If they both flop miserably then we can explore getting a better 3B guy in July. I think between them, they will at least perform at the league average for 3rd. LaRoche has tons of upside and deserves a legitimate chance to show it. If Nomar is hitting like 1st half 06 Nomar, then he will start. If not, LaRoche will step in and I believe put the matter to rest for the next 5-6 years.
Personally I wish that Kent had retired rather than come back. He’s bound to be on his way down, and possibly WAY WAY down. I’m not disappointed that he’s hurting, because I doubt he’ll have much value for this team.
Let him collect his $8 million or whatever in a public relations capacity – he can carry Jamie McCourt’s purse around for her and impart his veteran wisdom to the president of the organization for all I care about him.
There’s something even worse than Pierre keeping Ethier out of the lineup — Pierre keeping Kemp out of the lineup. It’s not hard for me to imagine an occasional outfield of Ethier-Jones-Pierre in the interest of “playing all the guys” like what happened under Grittle last year.
Even if Torre is dumb enough to start Pierre over Ethier, I pray he is never stupid enought to sit Kemp down for the sake of Pierre (or even Ethier).
Don’t forget Kent’s WS choking 0-4 Game 7 against the Angels.
Nah, bear, Kent is still a darn good-hitting second baseman. (.302 BA, .375 OBP, 20 HR, 79 RBI in 136 games last year). Neither DY nor Abreu is better than Kent at this point.
And as long as we’re winning Kent will keep his grouchy attitude in his own little corner of the dugout.
Can’t stand Kent, but I have to agree martin, he’s the best option right now. Hence we’re not having any heated Kent-DY-Abreu-Hu debates.
Still, I hope Ned doesn’t want to keep him around again next year.
All I know is that if Torre platoons Kemp to play Ethier I will be campaigning for his head and Ned’s too.
Spots 2-5 are really good today. The rest stink (other than Paul, who is very young).
You know the Dodgers are forgotten in Brooklyn when people ignore you or just leave you alone when you walk around the neighborhood in a Dodger shirt or cap.
Kent should be able to put up his usual of late .280/20HR/80RBI season if he stays healthy. If he goes down with and injury we can plug in DY or Abreau and get a leg up on 09. I’d like to see him hitting in the 5 or 6 hole this year behind AJones. But I do not want him back next year.
Good start Pierre off and running , Furcal in the lineup, but the usual ending, the zero on the scoreboard.
0 and 2 with RISP already. Martin and Kemp didn’t get it done. Ferk made an out but he did advance the runner into scoring position. Productive out. The 3-6 rbi guys have got to hit with runners on or we’re doomed to a repeat of last year.
Marin walked. Kemp is hard to double up, so normally a ground out by him would’ve scored the runner…
My bad, Had to answer the phone. Ned called and asked why Enchanted didn’t yhink starting Pierre was wise.
Maybe Pierre should’ve stole 3rd also and would have been in position to score on the fly. But of course I’m asking for too much.
Josh –
From a PR standpoint, I think it would be fun to have a Spring Training intrasquad game pitting the veterans against the youngsters. Imagine this:
vs
Sweeney, 1B Loney, 1B
Kent, 2B Young, 2B
Furcal, SS Hu, SS
Garciaparra, 3B LaRoche, 3B
Pierre, OF Kemp, OF
Jones, OF Ethier, OF
NRI, OF Repko, OF
Bennett, C Martin, C
Penny, P Billingsley,P
Lowe, P Kuroda, P
I would be interested in watching it every year – Even if only for a few innings.
That last post didn’t show up as I hoped. Pretend there are spaces between the two lists.
Lindsey sure hits ’em hard & so does Xpaul.
I’d bet on the young’uns. Great idea.
I am all for the young guys. Great idea!!
Another passed ball costs us.
They are teeing off on Lowe today.
Kemp made a nice try on the throw to the plate(close) from a poor position after the catch. Looks like Lowe is having trouble keeping it down. No good against this team.
Uacceptable!
These ESPN guys are full of bulloney. Trying to attribute Pedroia’s error to “Juan Pierre’s speed”. What a load of carp!! Pedroia didn’t rush the throw at all. He just plain made a bad throw, and the shortstop didn’t do a very good job either. “Pierre’s speed”didn’t have squat to do with it.
Once we start knocking in guys in scoring position with less then 2 out we will surely be in business.
Agreed MLK. And why is Ferk swinging for the fence in that situation. All he had to do was put the ball in play.
SOS…and Furcal’s not a #2 hitter either.
Totally agree on the error martin. BS to the nth degree.
SS was not in the right position on that throw. He was already across the bag where the throw was.
One of those bad days for Lowe.
Sinker wasn’t sinking.
Kemper!!!!
Nice shot Kemp!! One more for the young guys!
Nice see KEMP clout one on National T.V.
I’ll never forget Derek’s no hitter at Fenway on 4/27/02 for the Redsox., which I saw in person. then in ’05 a one-hitter at Wrigley as a Dodger, which I also caught in person.
Nice at bat for Pierre.
Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!!!
SOS – again.
THAT’S what JP should be doing all the time.
Boy this is like watching reruns of failing to score with a man on 3rd and less then 2 outs. Pierre’s speed showed on that too hard hit bunt, but he has to do that alot, I think, to earn his spot in left field. He’s worthless unless he uses those legs.
Good play in left by Pierre. Keep it up.
Stults looking good.
Just to remind you guys….JP hit great last spring as well…
Nice going for Stults. Pierre using his legs again this time in left, while I was making my last post. But I cought the replay. His fielding is O.K. except for his weak arm, I say. I’m just disapointed in the loss of power from the outfieled, that Ethier can provide.
It’s the arrogance and stubbornness of management that hurts the most, not just starting one guy over another.
Like, “We’re paying this guy $45 million and we’re going to play him like it or not!”
Exactly at what point in ST does Torre instill winning?
“Exactly at what point in ST does Torre instill winning?”
Probably simultaneous to when his teams get hits with runners on second and third.
First look I had of Troncoso. So Peter Gavin picks the D’backs.
Having a veteren pitcher allow less than five runs in 2 innings of work would help. Just guessing.
Slappy’s back.
Ethier should be put in this game for at least an AB and in this ST Torre should give him equal playing time.
Good point PierreEW.
How does a guy with “irreplaceable speed” hit into a double play?
I think Kemp, Ethier and Pierre should play almost everyday in ST. Each playing a few inning in games if that’s possible. We should see all 3 in action often. Even at least 2 of them in each game.Same goes for LaRoche & Nomar.
XXXXX
pierres,
Logic and rational will get you nowhere with Dodger Management.
Get those 2 runs in from 3rd with less than 2 out, and we’re in one run game. Fundamentals, its no mystery.
The pitching coach probably told the pitcher, “The bases are loaded now, the rest is easy”. Ah but we fooled them with power of the “mayor” lining a sacrifice fly to center. Nice going Linsey, show these kids How.
That’s Lindsey sorry.
They said the Redsox have a chance to score for the first time siince the 2nd inning. (A chance to score) I’m beginning to forget what that means.
Lindsey has 6 rbi this spring. I wonder if anyone will notice.
Chavez just had a heck of an at bat. Hope Pierre was taking notes. Tying run at the plate.
Holy Cow!!! Set up by that great at bat. Make that pitcher work. It wears on them.
Got Lowe off the hook.
Nice look at Lucas May. 25 Hrs in Single A last year they tell me. Not a good backup for Russell.
One hit away.
C’mon Lindsey.
Do it Jason.
WOW!!!!!
MAKE ROOM FOR REPKO
I’ll take Repko in left please. Pierre isn’t even the 5th best outfielder on our team.
Jones
Kemp
Ethier
Repko
Young
pierre
I wonder if Torre decided today is the best time to instill winning? Seems likely.
Red Sox thought they would be eating dinner by now. HAHA.
The young hungry guys get it. They were working counts, taking and fouling off pitches. Refreshing.
Great comeback!! jhall – I agree 100%!
Thanks for hanging in there DNelson.
I would think one reason for ST is for looking at the youngsters, especially for a new MGR. My question is, Why leave Ramone in for an entire game?
Is it to see if he can still play 9 inning?
pierres,
I was asking why was Ramon in after the first inning. They know what he’s good for – not much.
Good job Repko! You’re no Juan Pierre – thank God!
Meleon not fooling anyone.
Meloan was a melon today.
Maybe they wanted Martinez to to play himself out.SCOTT.
Throwing mangos for sure.
Ramon’s had some useful days, but he’s kind of a weak player to keep on the bench. I’d like to see Pierre, Nomar, Abreu & Young on the bench and maybe Lindsey.
Geez kid, you got your shot, throw strikes.
Kid can bring it. Trust your stuff. Something Bombko couldn’t do.
That’s what I’m talkin’ about.
Uplifting win. Young guys with fire in there bellies are fun to watch.
Nice catch by Lombard. I almost forgot that Saito was healthy. That’s what you call spring training.
I mean Saito WASN’T healthy enough to come in to putout the fire.
A “W”!!
I don’t care if it is just ST ya gotta start building a foundation.
Great hitting by the kids. Now if they can just teach that to the regulars…
Nice game!! Trying to convert these nor-cal kids to dodger blue fans – so far, so good.
lol
dnelson – shouldn’t be hard – show them the Giants projected line-up ! 🙂
Torre had an excellent game plan! 😉
His substitutions made the difference.
thanks enchanted! The kids in my class are young and impressionable still as opposed to my kids at home who are teenagers and set in their “Giant” ways. lol
This game was like a non tittled fight against a World Champion.
lead them towards the light dnelson!
good game for pierre today..just incase you guys didnt notice..
2 for 4 with a steal. reaching base 3 times
very nice bunt hit.
made the secondbaseman make an error trying to turn a double play because, of his speed.
very nice diving grab near the line.
all in all pierre did outstanding!
I don’t care if Pierre goes 10-10 with 10 runs, he’s still not the 3rd best OF….but Hurray! for the Dodgers none the less.
The single and bunt hit was very nice, but the “speed” error was a bunch or **** – ss was already across the bag and the throw was behind him. Nice DP too.
I always liked Repko, as long as he stays away from Furcal he’ll be fine. As for Pierre I still haven’t seen a use for him, hes not an everyday player, barely a bench player, maybe he can run for the pitchers.
nelson – if they’re very young kids just tell them that when no one’s looking the Giants are mean to puppies and kittens.
lol! Enchanted
That might send them home crying, but it’s a good thought. Believe it or not, there are a couple of Red Sox fans in the bunch (parents thinking I’m sure!), but the game today made them quiet for the time being. We will have to see what they say when they get home. I am sure I will hear about it tomorrow.
I got one word if they give you any lip – DETENTION!!
If JP has to start (thanks Ned), I’m not wild about Furcal batting 2 – doesn’t seem to fit. What if you flop he and Martin?
Great comeback for the young guys. As for Pierre, he had a pretty good game. SS blew the DP. The throw was right across the bag and he was already 2-3′ past the bag. It really doesn’t matter as Ned, Joe, and Co. are going to hand the starting jobs to Pierre and Nomar. It doesn’t matter what Ethier and LaRoche do. They are the veterans and will get the nod as a professional courtesy. I don’t like it or agree with it, but unfortunately, that is the way it is. Some sort of stupid unwritten rule/creed. If they get the job done and we are playing good ball and winning that will be great. It won’t matter. However, if it becomes apparent that it is not working and we are falling behind in the NL West race by mid May or early June, I would hope that the powers that be have the guts and foresight to make the necessary changes. Just hope we are not too far behind to make a run for the division title or wild card. We shall see.
Furcal hasn’t found his groove yet. Martin is probably a better choice for the 2 hole.
They are too young for detention (7 year olds). Seriously, I have a few who know their stats, and 80% of my class knows at least three or four players on the team and their positions. We are definitely making progress without the threats. It does help to have them posted all around the classroom, however. The teacher next door to me is an A’s fan, but she’s no threat. She hates the Giants too. This is a great way to teach math and geography and watching baseball at the same time.
I personally think they will live and die with Pierre and Nomar. If we win and make the playoffs, it is a mute point. I will digress and eat crow. If they don’t(much more likely), perhaps it could be the end of Ned. If Ned wants to hang his career hat on Pierre and Nomar, good luck. Seeing Ned get the boot for his arrogance and shortsightedness would make my off season without the playoffs much nicer.
Sounds like you have a pretty nice gig there Nelson.
Thanks jhall!!
And,yes,sadly, you are probably right about Ethier and LaRoche. It really *****!!
Ethier and LaRoche will be very productive major leaguers. I just hope it is with us. I am not holding my breath. Think Konerko and Pedro. We will piddle them away and look back on it with much regret. Unfortunately, it is like the college football coaches like Switzer that screw up. They move on and the team pays the price later. Darn shame and we will continue for 20 more years of frustration.
drinkinmerc-What’s the name of the book your university pres wrote on the the PCL? That would have been an interesting scenario had the Dodgers stayed in Brooklyn. The PCL was considered to be superior to the other AAA leagues and some players actually preferred to play there than in the big leagues.
I honestly don’t care if Nomar and Pierre are veterans. When you have good young talent you need to play them. Did the Astros platoon Hunter Pence? No. Did the Rockies platoon Troy Tulowitzki? No. Did the Brewers platoon Ryan Braun? No. The best guy at the position should play. Period. You play the game to win, not to make crabby veterans happy. Go with the youth! Go Blue!
knouffbrock: The book is “Runs, Hits and an Era: The Pacific Coast League 1903-58” by Paul J. Zingg. I guess it’s actually from 1994. They have it at the Barnes and Noble site. He also wrote a book about Hall of Famer Harry Hooper.
dnelson: to a fellow Dodgers fan in NorCal, keep fighting the good fight! There’s no joy greater to me lately than getting dirty looks from Giants fans on campus when I wear my LA Hat. Of course, there’s a lot of SD fans too, but they don’t count (jk).
Pretty much everyone in the baseball world agrees with us, except for Ned and Joe apparently. I hope they clean house after this year.
Just checked the box score. Like I’ve been saying for what seems like forever, REPKO IS A GAMER! A former #1 draft choice by the Dodgers, he’s the closest thing we have in intensity to Kirk Gibson. It’s not a matter of not liking Pierre. It’s a matter of liking Repko…A LOT…for me, more than Ethier, and Ethier is a stud, too.
That’s the key Kahli, it is not that we don’t like Pierre. It is the fact that we have at least two outfielders that are better than him and we want to play the best team possible. Some other teams don’t have that situation. Pierre would be a great fit on a team that he is actually one of the three best outfielders. If we were the Pirates or Royals and really didn’t have a better option, I suppose we would not be having these debates.
Could be worse, we could be Pirates or Royals fans. Or, the worst, G’nats fans.
dnelson,
I used to teach the early grades of elementary school as well.
In 2004 I read my 2nd-graders a coupole of books about The Curse of the Bambino during the American League playoffs. Needless to say the timing was perfect for that book. I know I made a big baseball fan out of at least one little girl — albeit I might have inadvertently made her a Red Sox fan.
Teaching little kids is a blast!!
But the California educrats are to education what Grady Little was to the Dodgers.
Man I love what Repko brings to the team as long as he can stay healthy and not injure anyone around him he’s my under the radar favorite Dodger to watch play.
Yep Fisher, if he can stay healthy, I would love to have him the lineup everyday. Incredible upside. Plays all three outfield positions very well, great arm, speed. Geez, why do we need Pierre!?
I was watching Pierre today, OK, scrutinizing Pierre today, and for a few innings I had some hope that, OK it might not be as bad as I think. After all, he had a clean single, bunted for a hit, even dove and made a nice catch.
Then I watched him toss back to the infield on Lowell’s single. From shallow LF mind you, here comes this rainbow with nothing on it. Had Lowell been well, anybody else with a little speed, as soon as that ball left JPs hand he could’ve easily made it to second without a throw, 1 because of the rainbow, and 2. because he “threw” it to third (kind of.)
Then up he comes with a guy on first and all of a sudden he’s back to being slappy McPullhitter, rolling it over for and easy DP. Someone with his speed should rarely hit into a DP, and almost never by pulling the ball to the right side.
Since it appears (barring a miracle) that he’s going to be our LFer, I’m trying to find some good feeling I can take away from a 2-hit game, but he even deprives me of that.
I’m probably going to need a good therapist before the season’s over…
Enchanted. Could have been two double plays as the SS blew that play. Anyone who couldn’t see that is kidding themselves. Speaking of his throws, have you noticed that when he fields the ball he just whips it out of the glove and flails it in the general direction of the infield. It’s like he is trying to make up for his weak arm by throwing it immediately. Thus, he throws those lollipops. If he would just wait half a second, land, and get his feet set he could drive through the throw and get something on it. He saves perhaps 20-30 msec by unloading it quickly, but it sails forever. Use the 20-30 msec to get your feet set and get something on the throw. It will be more effective. A strong throw will cover much more ground much quicker. Simple physics.
Glad I wasn’t the only one noticing the lollipops… I guess no one teaches him outfield technique like no one teaches the regulars situational hitting.
Don’t you remember, the error DP was forced by his tremendous speed. LOL
What a maroonic (minus the second “o”) “analysis” that was. I could maybe, MAYBE say OK if the 2Bman was hurrying a throw TO FIRST, but clearly he had more than enough time to get a force at second, and the SS just muffed the timimg.
I was proud of the kids though the way they were working the pitchers in the 9th. Can only remember Lindsay swinging at the first pitch. The vets could take a lesson from that.
I should say minus the “a” and insert second “o” appropriately, but I get tetched in the head whenever I discuss JP.
Plaschke’s latest column is on Bowa. Aside from his consistently awful writing style, it’s not terrible. I like this part (with my comments in [brackets]):
What if Bowa had been here last fall during the conflict between the veterans and kids? [which Plaschke loves to keep dredging up, while the players insist that it’s in the past]
“First, if you are a kid and that sensitive about a veteran’s comments, shame on you,” Bowa says. “But second, if you are a veteran and have a problem with a kid, you need to lead by example, work hard every play, run out every ground ball.” [and not whine to the press about the kids (implied)]
LOL “tetched in the head”!
Gives us the vapors!
I’m not convinced that Jason Repko, today’s slam off a scrub notwithstanding, projects to be an adequate hitter in the majors. His minor-league career line is .270 .318 .424, with his best year in 2004 split between AA and AAA: .303 .345 .483. He has a K/BB ratio of about 3 to 1 at every level, including the majors, which is particularly worrisome for a non-power guy; the 13 HR in 2004 his highest minor-league season total. His major-league career is 451 PAs (about 3/4 of a season), .232 .302 .382, 11 HR.
Anyone who is stoked over Repko must be orgasmically convulsive over LaRoche,
MiLB career: .294 .374 .524
with K/BB of 1.35:1 (1.01:1 the last two seasons),
2006 split AA/AAA .315 .410 .514,
2007 AAA .309 .399 .589.
Not only that old fogey, but we like him too!! lol
Over under on when Furcal complains about hitting in the 2 hole.
May 12
In over 1100 games Furcal has been a “successful” leadoff man for 1075 of them. He has hit in the 2 hole in 35 games and had bad numbers.
Last year Grady did it 8 times and Furcal hit .167
LOL regarding Repko
“he’s my under the radar favorite Dodger to watch play”.
We all have our favorite guys who Ned blocked by giving contracts out to Vets. Repko, Ethier, Loney last year, LaRoche this year.
Thankful Martin is firmly established otherwise I can see Ned trading for Bengie Molina just to top it off
Well that would just be wonderful if Furcal gets disgruntled by not batting leadoff. I hadn’t thought of it but if true, makes things even more dramatic. Pierre could be even more of a fly in the ointment. LOL. I don’t get the impression that most of our current team likes Pierre’s game. Like he said; some like it, some don’t. You’ve got to believe that the players themselves realize that he is not our best option. I think Furcal has more support from the players than Pierre. Especially now that he and Jones are back together and Jones has already become a mentor to Kemp. I love it. Thanks for that angle.
Please Ned, find a trade for Pierre. We deserve better and so does he. Find a team where his game is appreciated. He will be happier and god knows, we will revere your silly ***.
I don’t care that you screwed up Ned. Just make it right and all is square. You will be a plus in my book. Sack up dude.
If I was trying to get possibly my last big contract and it was my walk year I would want to bat where I normally bat. If I was better at batting where I normally bat and better than the guy who would bat where I normally bat well then thats just stupid.
T. MYERS, Fla. — The Dodgers don’t want to rush Clayton Kershaw. But their fifth-starter job is up for grabs and left-handers with 97-mph fastballs don’t grow on trees.
For now, Kershaw remains in Minor League camp. But his debut with the big leaguers earlier this week was eye-catching. It’s now assumed he will be a Major Leaguer this year, the only question is when.
Could it be by Opening Day?
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” said Russell Martin, who caught Kershaw’s inning against Washington on Tuesday night.
“For the first time in a big league game — wow. He’s got just a heavy, heavy fastball and an easy delivery. He’s very deceptive. His curveball, it just drops off the table. I think it’s the best curveball I’ve ever caught, to be honest. He keeps the ball down. You can see he’s a tremendous competitor, giving up a home run to the first batter, getting into a bases-loaded jam and bearing down to strike out two guys to get out of it.
“It’s just how easy he throws. He’s mechanically sound. I don’t think he needs to learn anything mechanically. He looks polished. He wasn’t holding anything back, he was just going after it. He’s only 19. Man, that’s impressive.”
Will be interesting now that Pierre is going to displace Furcal in the leadoff spot. Ferk might not like it. This Pierre tur’d just keeps floating.
Tony Jackson is now being stubborn:
“The mountain Repko must climb to make the club is this: the Dodgers are planning to use four outfielders on a regular basis, with Juan Pierre in left, Andruw Jones in center and Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp sharing time in right.”
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/sports/ci_8483362
Ooops, forgot my comment on that:
Whose plan is that? Did a Dodger source say that’s the plan or is that just what Tony’s guessing?
Why on earth would you platoon Kemp & Ethier so twinkle toes can play every game? Now we can debate all day how he and Ethier compare, but there IS NO COMPARISON between he and Kemp. I’d rather have Ethier sit that not have Kemp in the lineup everyday.
This foolishness boys and girls is going to take us right back to a 4th pace finish.
Ah yes, Spring, when hope springs eternal. If they really go thru with this non sense, our hope of a division title or playoff berth is LOST!