Blue Crew vs. Brew Crew

YES! Dre in the lineup.

Time to sweep the Brew Crew!

At least we got Ethier in the lineup, and NO, I don't feel bad for Andruw no matter how Josh wants to spin it. He's getting a very undeserved $18 million per season that's got to be the laughing stock in the clubhouse - probably not to his face at this point. To me he's not a real Dodger until he starts earning some of it, and I wish he didn't wear and disgrace the Dodger blue.

For me, the most important player in the line-up today is Penny. Time for him to STEP UP!

While it's defintiely encouraging to see Andruw express a little emotion, it would be great to hear him say what he's doing to try and fix the problem (like trying to lose a few pounds). Here's a thought: what about bringing in Don Mattingly to work with Jones on his swing and mental approach to the game? Seems like the ideal "special assignment" for Donny Baseball.

I've posted a few other thoughts on how to get Andruw back on track over at http://www.dodgerfan.net for whoever is interested.

Chris
http://www.dodgerfan.net

I just read that article and I do support Andruw and hope for the best for him and for our Dodgers, I just hope he is really putting in all the work he can put in to get his batting back to where it can and should be. However, as Torre put it, the one thing he needs to do for his own good later in the season is drop some pounds.

in the last thread, spanner said:
"JP actualy has a better OBP right now than both Loney and Kemp and he has been doing a much better job of drawing walks this season."

well you know who has a better OBP than pierre? ETHIER (and russ, blake, and raffy)... andre is a better in so many ways..

not saying you shouldn't select pierre over jones right now, but you should NEVER select pierre over ethier

I just read it too, and while as a Dodger fan I am pulling for him to get it together ASAP, I would have liked the article to have addressed his remarks about the fans in Simer's article. Until I hear that he was incorrectly quoted (highly unlikely) or just giving Simers some grief (very likely), I'm finding it very hard to root for the guy.

Penny's remarks at the end are nice to read. He seems like a good team player, a good clubhouse guy. Let's hope he has something in the tank tonight.

I have a buddy who played with Penny in the minors while they were both with Arizona. He said Brad was an arrogant *** to many, but not to him. Also said he had god given talent and really didn't push himself as hard as others had too.

Pierre has more speed than Blake, Russ and Andre... so he should be the one leading off where his speed can do some good.

I'm not saying to sit Ethier.. I'm saying to sit Jones...

Still no word on the roster moves to go with Furcal going on the DL....? Maza up, Loiaza released? That would be my guess..

I would suspect that most Dodger fans would be more patient with Jones if it wasn't costing Ethier (or Kemp) playing time. We really didn't need Jones to begin with, but if Ned wanted to waste $36 million like that he should have traded Pierre in the off-season. Ned got two CFs, but only one is needed, and now Torre insists on playing both of them. Ned created the problem, so he should correct it and trade one of them. Four outfielders is bad for team chemistry and is the major reason for fan discontentment. But if either Ethier or Kemp is traded, the fans will be justifiably outraged!!

spanner, Abreu to the 60 day DL. Either this guy's body is in tatters or he just can't game it.

THANK YOU, JOE!!!!
GO DODGERS BLUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

right on the mark, redfox...

Well at least Jones is riding the pine tonight. That's a good start, but I see Slappy's in his usual out making position leading off. At best he's an 8 hitter, and with Penny pitching, he should be hitting 9. You'd think Joe would've seen enough of him up top the last 4-5 games. All in all though, not a bad line-up.

Article from the Vegas paper on our lost but not forgotten Jason Repko:
http://www.lvrj.com/sports/18312869.html

Following the Beatles theme. Lady Pierre love your smiling face, wonder if you'll ever get on base. Friday night you wore your stockings way up, sunday morrn you're playing in the sun, Thursday night you slid past second base , see how you run.

Good one Fliegel.. LOL I can live with this lineup. Need Penny to show up. GO DODGERS!!

Pierre is the only leadoff hitter other then Furcal.

Lets see if Penny can impersonate a number 1 and stop a losing streak.

Good one fliegel !!

Russ would be a better lead off. Pierre is a pinch runner. Remember during the course of a game the lead off guy often comes up with men on base, and a guy with some power is preferable. Also left field is a power position, something Pierre does not have.

This lineup IMO is as close to perfect as you can get.
It's just missing Furcal.
COM' ON FERKY GET WELL SOON.

great lineup...lets get some runs today, heaven knows penny's gonna need them the way he's been pitching

I can't believe you people are still hating on JP...he's playing great this year

Yeah Im not a fan of JP with RISP, but leading off an inning is perfectly fine with me. Martin could hit leadoff, but I don't think anyone would like to see there catcher hitting leadoff. I know Pudge does, but still, not a great idea.

WTF? as a leadoff man Pierre is hitting..

.091 /.167 /.091/.258

so cool there you go, great year. play him we need him. buy the hype, buy the rhetoric, buy the old school ways all the way to 4th place.

good its about time we start playing our best outfield... get well soon furcal

In 29 games playes he is responsible for 22 runs. He is playing great for Juan Pierre, but on a team that leads the NL in one thing and one thing only, Payroll, it's not good enough. Obviously. He cant play much better and we still suck. Of course it's everyone else, not him, like last year.

I'd rather Joe Torre hit lead off than Pierre. Also I'd rather see them play Druw even though he's been terrible. At least Andruw used to be good, and he's only one swing away from changing a game, if he doesn't strike out.

Doesn't really matter who leads off for us if our damn rotation doesn't start stepping up. Chan Ho is probably our best starter right now if indeed he is the 5th man.

true that Scurtis for sure.

If our pitching was at 2003 levels we would be fine. But there again without a true ace it's hard to get streaks stopped and started. Let's hope for the good Penny. By Ace I mean a guy you know will give you 7 or 8 with 3 runs or less pretty much for sure...like kevin brown did when healthy.

Did they really put Abreu on the 60 Day DL? Is he still that injured? What the heck is wrong with him anyways? Too much steroids?

I have a good feeling about this series in Milwaukee. Gotta stop 3 and 4 for them though. Braun Braun is starting to get hot and Prince can do damage too. It would be nice to see Penny step up and be the horse to stop the slide. Hope Sammy is back tonight too.

Brewers are 3-7 in their last 10 games. Dodgers have obviouusly lost 4 in a row. Who will be worse? Inquiring minds want to know!

Sorry to be negative here, but I haven't seen enough from our starters this season to make me believe they're anything special, and the constant lineup juggling is a recipe for inconsistency. Those Astros pitchers stank and yet we got swept.

Honeycutt needs to go, and Pierre as well now that he's back to his sucky leadoff ways.

Yuck!

I see this just happend or did earlier.

Dodgers purchased the contract of infielder Luis Maza from Triple-A Las Vegas.

Maza, who spent eight years in the Twins system before joining the Dodgers last year, will be making his major league debut as a 27-year-old. He's usually posted weak offensive numbers in the minors, but he was hitting .402/.465/.528 for Triple-A Las Vegas this year. He'll serve as a backup at shortstop and second until Rafael Furcal returns.

Jason Kendall has 455 career starts in the leadoff position (most of them when he was a good hitter) and has a career .370 OBP in that slot in the batting order. I don't see why Russell Martin *IN FURCAL'S ABSENCE ONLY* couldn't lead off sometimes with his currently .425 OBP. (Plus, I like my speed guys at the bottom of the order, right in front of all the good hitters at the top: Pierre 9th, Furcal 1st, Ethier 2nd, Kemp 3rd, etc. sounds good to me - bat the pitcher 8th.)
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Juan Pierre's numbers this year are:
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.281 / .360 / .326 / .686 OPS, 80 OPS+
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The .360 OBP is minimum acceptability IMHO and he's showing even less extra-base capability than ever before. Yes, he is still a great baserunner. JP on the last homestand however:
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.143 / .250 / .143 / .393 OPS
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which is colder than Jones on the same homestand! -
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.214 / .294 / .357 / .651 OPS

signed,
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the poster formerly known as old_fogey_la.
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(and I agree, it's probably just a glitch that we got banned. And yes, it is banned; when I try to log in as old_fogey_la I get a "you are prohibited" message.)

Abreu to the 60-day DL is retroactive to the day he went on the 15-day, which was opening day, so he would be eligible to come off the 60-day on May 31 or June 1 or so, if he is ever again healthy.
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Furcal appears to be more injury-prone than LaRoche.
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(the poster formerly known as old_fogey_la)

LaRoche will be back by June 1st. Just a hunch. DeWitt is solid though, but I can see him cooling off in the next few weeks. Hopefully he doesn't but I would love to see LaRoche in there.

I would like to clarify something for randyisrad. I really don't think anyone here "hates" Juan Pierre. Hate is a strong word. Personally, the only thing I hate is that he's a starter. I hate that the left fielder plays him to dump the ball into short left field and he tries to do it anyway. All the time. I hate that people say how great he's doing when it was a 5-game stretch that has made his season so far:

He's started 22 of games.
He's 25 of 89 (.281) overall.
In those 5 games he was 10 of 19 (.526). Batting behind Ferc, I might add.
The balance is 15 for 70 (.214)
The last 5, (the 5 that Ferc's missed) he's 2 for 18 (.111)

A great leadoff hitter? 2008 splits:
Batting leadoff - .091 (22 ABs)

Quote from Baseball-reference.com: "Bill Plaschke's unsavory fetish notwithstanding, Juan Pierre is probably the worst regular in baseball. "

Of course, that's his opinion.

I can't understand what some people are mad about.
Yes Pierre's in the lineup.
But so is Ethier.
What Do you want?

The worst regular in baseball? That's an awfully harsh opinion of a guy who has had decent numbers through his career.

He puts the ball in play, he seldom strikes out... those are good qualities.

He scores a lot of runs, steals a lot of bases....

Some anonymous blogger on baseball-reference is certainly not worth quoting here.

Hopefully the rest will serve Andruw Jones good.

let's go get em today boys

spanner - your point is right although I don't buy your argument. Of the 162 players to qualify for the batting title (reasonable definition of regular, I guess), JP had the 13th worst OPS+, 75. That doesn't account for his great baserunning and high SB success, nor his average range and lousy arm. As long as Nick Punto and numerous SF Giant starters (e.g. Ray Durham) are still regulars, JP won't be the worst, just amongst the more overpaid.
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-the poster formerly known as old_fogey_la

I think we still should have had AJ in the tonight and not Slappy

PierreEMW, what do I want? I want an outfield of Ethier, Jones and Kemp. It's very solid defensively, as good as most OFs. You say Jones is in a horrible slump and is killing us offensively?

Juan Pierre on the homestand:
.143 / .250 / .143 / .393 OPS

Andruw Jones on the same homestand:
.214 / .294 / .357 / .651 OPS

They way I see it, if we have to let one of these guys play so that he reaches his potential, I vote for Jones' potential. And Jones in center is lightyears better than Pierre in left.

juan pierre might "put the ball in play" but those sad little pop-ups he calls making contact isn't doing the team much good. if he was constantly hitting the ball on the ground, that might be a better statement, but he's NOT. "he scores a lot of runs" might mean more if his OBP was higher (not counting the 5 games this year when he went ballistic). and "steals a lot of bases", but he also gets caught, A LOT.

I wouldn't expect to see Pierre sitting with Furcal out.
I Like power coming from the outfield, but I'm sure people must have noticed a dimension that Pierre brings to the game.
In the absense of Furcal, he becomes a strenght with his speed and knowledge on the base paths

that's not even putting into account his sad defense..

pierreeastmeetswest is right here guys--But for the fact that Furcal is injured, this is probably our best line-up. Right now, Pierre, rather than Jones, should be in the line-up. I don't think that will be the case for too long, but it certainly is today.
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Yes, Martin could hit lead-off too, but this makes as much sense as anything else.
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We really need a healthy Furcal.
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And Kpookie is right that Penny needs to step up.

spanner, it's not determinable if that quote is from an anonymous blogger or a knowledgable stat guy that works for that outfit. You can judge for yourself if you like:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/p/pierrju01.shtml

Either way, aren't we all anonymous bloggers here? We're all merely stating our opinions. Like them or not, the vast majority of you people are very well informed and I am enjoying this immensely. The one thing we all seem to have very much in common is a love for Dodger Blue and a great desire to see them get back to those World Series rings!

Go Dodgers!

His defense is average and enough.

Dodgeric, you base your stats on one homestand.. For the season, Pierre is ahead of Jones in EVERY category including amazingly sugging percentage. The only thing Jones leads in his strikeouts. I don't want him anywhere near the plate.

Sara, you say Pierre gets caught stealing a lot.. so far this season he has stolen 12 bases and been caught only once.

I want Pierre starting alongside Ethier and Kemp.

48 hour break is over and it's game time

Well said Eric and Sara and Western.

Need Kent to get hot also. He has been stinking it up lately.

steiner is such an idiot why do we have to put up with him

spanner - one could also use those numbers to back a claim that Jones is improving and beginning to snap out of it while Pierre is slumping and regressing to his normal levels.
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That said, this lineup, while more creative things could be tried, is certainly not outrageous. What will be outrageous is JP starting every day that Furcal is out, while Ethier plays part-time, especially if Jones continues to be terrible.
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-the poster formerly known as old_fogey_la

Alright Jeffy, that'll work.

KENT!!

Kemp can continue to drive in runs.

jhall, you ain't kidding about Kent, he went 0 FOR THE HOMESTAND, with one walk in 19 PAs. OUCH!

Sorry, I meant Kent

A little rest helps KENT after a nice long hit by Kemp.

And as I was posting.....Kent is klutch. And nice double by The Bison.

I actually like the lineup today.. with the exception of Hu... If they have Maza up they should give him a shot... Hopefully Nomar can be activated soon.. though I don't know if he can play short anymore....

maybe he's only been caught once so far this year, but in his career, he's only about 75% successful. that's not enough for a guy who's speed is his best quality.

Nomore can't even play 3rd decently much less SS. Hu can handle short just fine and with regular playing time his bat should come around.

Way to go Brad!

Sara's right. In his career Phew does get caught alot. He can steal bases, but is not a premiere base stealer.

Nomar was hitting decently... would still be good to have him as a pinch hitter.. maybe they can bring him back before interleague starts so he can DH

spanner, not for one second do claim that Jones is having anything but a horribly embarrasing year at the plate. I'm still very upset with what he said in the Simers article two days ago and I haven't heard any retraction or explanation. It would appear that he's been given a pass on that.

There's no sense in repeating what I said above about why I'd rather have Jones than Pierre. Hopefully it's only one of them so that Andre and Matt play every day as they have earned. That's the biggest thing that I'm upset about. We have to live with one of them starting. One or the other. I choose Jones. You choose Pierre. So be it. Let's put on our Dodger caps and cheer them all on! I gotta get home to get ready for 108 Boy Scouts. God Bless America!

it's kind of funny how torre is constantly preaching about working counts, and ethier is one of the best dodgers at that (more often than not) and yet, he's been the one to get the short end of the stick...

uh oh!!!

Rock Raines, one of the best stealers ever, was 84% career, which is excellent. Rickey Henderson was 80%, same as Vince Coleman. Lou Brock 75%. Maury Wills 73%. Juan Pierre 75% (81% last season). JP is a very, very, very good basestealer.

Good point WesternFogey..

Right time for the strikeout by Penny on Hall.
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-the poster formerly known as old_fogey_la

Just to throw my two cents in, I'd like to have them be addressed as Juam Pierre and Andruw Jones, formerly know as Dodgers.

Damn shift on Ethier and Loney.

WRITE IN MATT KEMP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
USE ALL YOUR E-MAILS
LETS GET ON IT GUYS

Thats Pierre's game there.. his speed forces the infielder to hurry a throw.. he winds up on second and then he scores..

2 for 2 for the Bison.

Nice to finally get hits with runners in scoring position!!!

KEMP is really building a home RF or even CF.
CF will be be hard since Jones has that.

Kemp is better in RF

Or maybe the infielder merely stinks. I would hate to count on the lapses of others for my success.

Kemp's got a bad attitude...he's a clubhouse cancer...guy should be traded.
In keeping with today's music theme..."where have all the naysayers gone...long time passing...where have all the naysayers gone...long time ago...where have all the naysayers gone...gone to cheer him every one..."

Go Kahli!! LOL

NO excuse on giving up that run. 2 out rally.

LOL! Is the second verse:
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where have all the trashcans gone? Long time passing.
where have all the trashcans gone? Long time ago.
where have all the trashcans gone? Gone with Gonzo to Florida!
when will Plaschke ever learn? when will Ned ever learn?

Rallys happen. I'm just surprised they'd run on Pierre????

Late bloggers...welcome to the midday music festival...

Only 1 run, that ain't bad.

Sweet baby James!!!

My Loney has a first name ....

Gee, these kids are pretty good, eh?
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-the poster formerly known as old_fogey_la

It's J-A-M-E-S!

DeWitt!!!

My Loney has a second name,
It's L-O-N-E-Y
I love to watch him every day
And if you ask me why I'll say
'Cause James Loney has a way
With H-I-T-T-I-N-G!

Dear Ned Colletti,
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Please buy out Russell Martin's arbitration years and a year or two of free agency immediately.
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Thank you,
westernmost_in_flavor

-the poster formerly known as old_fogey_la

typical pierre with risp

What's the chance Slappy can get a hit?????????????

Nice triple by LONEY making it easy for MARTIN to drive him in and DeWitt is making a strong case for rookie of the year.

When will management learn Slappy does not fit into the Dodger's plans. We can't win a division or World series with him.

DeWitt is just ridiculous at the moment.
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And that's what we see just too much of from JP, rolled over an easy grounder to 2B. And on the first pitch yet.

LaRoche might be tradeable if DeWitt keeps this up, or vice versa.

The biggest challenge to DeWitt becoming ROY is Nomore coming back to screw him out of the lineup. Before they let Nomore off the DL they should make him agree to become the utility guy/ pinch hitter, if he can stay healthy enough to do that for more than a week.

this is going to be a long hard fought game. good thing Russ threw out C Hart.

It's going to be interesting when Nomar gets back.

Penny can be so maddening sometimes. Walked the pitcher.
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If you trade LaRoche, and DeWitt gets hurt, you are stuck with Nomar, Maza, etc. at 3B. No thanks. There is no rush to trade LaRoche or DeWitt. LaRoche might be that power bat so many people think the Dodgers still need. LaRoche still has an option year left! DeWitt has two!

You think we need a power hitter westernmost. I definately think we need one. We don't seem to have one at this time.

. Way to go Penny. walk the pitcher and that's what happens. Rats.

And Penny pays a big price, unlike his name. Ouch.

Freaking Penny!!

Billingsley-Kershaw 1-2 punch next year. Penny and Lowe are not capable aces or hell even a good 2 man.

Well, Slappy just cost us another run. Totally unacceptable.

Here we go again.
Now if our offense can strike back......

Penny and Lowe both need to find other teams nest year.
!. Billingsley
2. Kershaw
3. Meloan
4. Kuroda

Three things we have not been able to do this year.

!. Hold a lead
2. Come from behind win.
3. Hit timely home runs when they mean something.

Maybe they'll bring in Gagne. Then we have a chance.

Lowe will be a free agent, his agent is Scott Boras, and he will want more years than Ned will want to give. He will likely be gone.
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LA has a team option on Penny for '09 at $8.75M, the buyout is $2M - he'll be back unless he completely, absolutely tanks out the rest of the season. At the current market rate, that's a reasonable salary for a #4. And you left out McDonald as an option. Maybe Kuo.

I know we discuss lack of power, bad defence and poor situational hitting all the time, but the GLARING need on this team is starting pitching. Its becomming more and more apparent everyday.

Why is it the D's can pitch like hell one year, and hit like hell another, but they can never put the two together at the same time?

In watching this game the problem is Furcal.

Hu has left 3 guys on and Pierre two guys and either would(should be) be playing if Furcal was healthy.

Pierre is a master of the terrible AB and I am so sick of it. He sucks the life out of me. It takes multiple hits to score him and he cant drive in runs to save his life.

Jhall--I think you have a word for Penny's performance tonight.
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The only good news is that it looks like the Brewers next pitcher will be Salomon Torres, child of scorn.

Our best young pitcher throwing in the majors right now is 25 year old Edwin Jackson.

We needed those 2 plays as Pierre isn't playing his position well tonight.

Lets come back this inning.

UNACCEPTABLE!!!!

With Penny getting through the 6th trailing by 2 means we're still in this game.
Maybe the Breweres new pitcher might help.

In the meantime, what's Honeycutt doing about this pitching staff?

Well, bloop slappy did his usual contribution

Leave Pierre alone they were all solid hits by the Brewers.

When Pierre goes to another team, I won't talk about him at all.

I didn't note any glaring fielding issue with Pierre today. Penny got rocked and some of the runners were advancing on anyone in those situations.

Another nice inning for Corey Wade.
If we only c