Friday night lights...

So we lost Furcal's bat, and now we lose Ethier's also? Why not lead off Hu?

Nice to see Joe is building up Andre's confididence, just like Grady did.

I'm more concerned about Furcal than who's playing left field, we miss him on both sides of the game. Regardless, I'll be out there beanie and all tonight. When I made my prediction about Ethier that was assuming Furcal would play. Regardless, the core is in there. We'll be fine.

GO DODGERS!

I hope so Alex, and my main worry is Furcal. Pierre is hitting enough to make him a decent option in LF, but why is Andre getting so much time off?

Leekfink
See my response to your comment on last thread.

Looks like a lot of us are busy with the Lakers game.

Does anyone know if there is a website that lists the former players signing at the autograph alley?

furcal out again worries me - he missed the end of last yr with a stiff back and although its been said that this one isnt the same injury, its bothersome. And back injuries can linger for long periods of time. Its annoying not to have ethier in there again but as long as we keep winning im fine with it. Ethier will jump back in once/if Pierre cools off or Jones continues to play this way

Great stuff Enchanted!!!!

Actually I think we're giving Ned too much credit for not trading the kids. I think that McCourt put his foot down and was not going to let that happen after seeing the readiness of people like Loney, Ethier, Kemp, Bills and Brox. It's too much out of Ned's character not to have gone for Cabrera or Santana, maybe even Hunter, but then I'm probably wrong with those names - none of them are sufficiently over the hill to attract Ned's interest.

Of course, I think we're just hurting ourselves by having Ethier sit out once again.

I want full credit too if tonite's the night that Andruw busts out with a dinger or two!!

Congratulations Sammy. You're a class act!!

After seeing this lineup tonight. I have to repeat what I said earlier today on the previous thread.
If and when Ethier is traded I hope it's to a team outside of this division, so we won't have to see him batting against us to often.

Is it bad to wish for an injury in order to get Ethier in the lineup full time?

So Slappy's back after a brief visit to big leaguer land, and Ethier rides the pine once again.

Ethier's mom needs to call Ned - NOW.

Perumike
It might not be bad but it's pretty low down.

I would'nt want to see anybody get hurt for any reason. You're talking about someone's ability to earn a living as well as someone's physical well being. As much as I'd like to see Andre play, I would'nt go that far.

I agree, just trying to find a way to get Ethier in there.

It is really frustrating for me as a fan to see how Ethier is being treated as the "starting" LF, so I can only imagine how he is feeling.

Phew will be back soon and Ethier will get his time.

Pierre is doing well in left, so I don't really mind seeing him get the start. I think it would be in Andre's best interest to be traded. He's a solid player but I don't think he will get any playing time for the next two years. I feel for the guy. Anyway, here is who I see as WS contenders right now in the NL(in no particular order).

AZ
Dodgers
Mets
Cubbies
Braves(reaching...?)
Phills

this is a bunch of crap... where is our best outfielder Ethier? torre is a clown... this is stupid.

There is only one person to blame for Ethier sitting on the bench and that is Ned Colletti.
Joe is just doing his best to manage this team.
If Jones & Pierrre were not here I think it would be a different story.
Please draw your own conclusions.

With Ferk out, I'm sure Joe feels he needs Pierre to lead off. They've got to get Jones some swings for now. Ethier's time will come. Let's hope Lowe is on tonight. Houston has some good hitters at the top and middle of their lineup. Berkman is on fire and Cruz has owned Lowe.

Good point Jhall. With the way Lowe has looked his last couple of starts, combined with Houston's offense...I'm worried. I think/hope by the end of the season "Billy The Kid"(you heard it here first) will take over as the ace of our staff. He certainly has the ability to do it.

Yea, Pierre is hot right now. Just ride that till his inevitable 0-5 day with 3 ground outs to the pitcher. Either will shine, you can't sit Kemp or Jones... Kemp cuz of his recent production and Jones because of that contract, defense, and potential offensive upside... he's still Andruw Jones and he'll eventually hit like him.

I wouldn't be so sure Dodgerdude...Barry Zito is still Barry Zito and that doesn't mean he'll pitch like him.

I don't see the point in wishing someone to fail.
This my team and I want whoever is in that lineup to succeed.

Maybe I'm an optimist but I don't think Ethier will be traded. As long as Frank will keep on hitting Ned with a rolled up newspaper to restrain his worst instincts, we should be safe. Bad dog, Ned, Bad dog.

Yea but if Andre isn't traded he will likely have to either split time or be primarily a bench player depending on how Jones and Pierre do. Andre has proven he can play everyday, so if Pierre continues his solid play and Jones starts hitting for power I think the only option would be to trade Andre. Unless I'm missing something I don't see why he would be suited for a part time player/PH.

I'm not wishing failure on anyone. I just think Pierre isn't very good, and eventually he'll show that again. He is clearly our 4th best option in the OF, but he's hot right now so you gotta play em. Andruw will hit again, even if its just 20 homers with a .240 BA, its more production than he's giving now. With his defense he's still easily an improvement over Pierre. If Jones is still hitting under .200 with 3 or fewer HRs a month from now then we might have a problem.

I agree with Pierre. It only benefits us if as many players as possible play well. If JuanP plays well, he helps us as well as making him more marketable in a trade. We're probably going to have to deal with this "outfield by commitee" until, at least, the trading deadline. Nobody seems to get desperate enough until then.

Ethier will be traded because he will fit better on some other team. The damage has been done.
If things go wrong and we need a starting pitcher, who do you think will be in the eye of the other team's GM?
Unless something unforseen changes.
Ned Colletti put us in this spot.

well said seesky

I agree Pierre. This whole situation is Ned's fault and it goes back to him panicing after Drew opted out. I just hope its Ethier or Pierre traded and not Kemp.

Seesky, I could see this 4 outfielder situation being a problem at the trade deadline of the 09 season...Just don't trade Kemp Neddie...Please

I hate to admit it, Pierre, but you're probably right. Ethier's younger, cheaper, and a better player. Let's hope we don't get in such a bind where we have to make that choice. We all know what happens when Ned gets desperate.

I don't think Kemp is going anywhere.
Especially if he keeps playing as he is.
I think we are looking at the outfield right now.

Kemp won't be traded, no way.

Ned Colletti's outfield, with the help of Frank McCourt's money.

If Kemp is traded for an over-the-hill veteran I will personally boycott Dodger merchandise. I can understand Ethier being traded but Kemp going would just about kill me.

SWood, I think it'll be resolved by the end of the off season at the latest. We'll have a more pressing need to fill .(like starting pitching if Lowe leaves and Schmidt doesen't come back strong) Or someone will ask to be traded. I agree, Please, Ned, not Kemp.

Go Jazz! Go Dodgers!

I hope its resolved by the end of the season and I think if we had a GM with a plan this issue would have already been resolved.

If every other GM in the league knows who the best OFers are on the Ds (they ask for them in trade) and every sportwriter in the country who's name isn't Plaschke know's who the best OFers are, then you have to assume that Colletti and Torre know who they are as well. Why they doggedly insist on playing only 2 out of the 3 at any one time defies all logic and baseball acumen.

Why does Sweeney need extra ABs and DY not? Why will 3B be handed over to Nomore when he returns? Its all just proof that management has no concept of what they're doing and that the D's win in spite of, not because of their actions.

I imagine that Torre and company think that with Furcal out they *must* bat a "leadoff guy" first and that JP is the only other "leadoff guy" they have. I say, if he's willing to bat Martin 2nd, why not bat him 1st and play Ethier in LF batting 2nd?

... because I'd rather make up for the loss going from Furcal to Hu by playing Ethier rather than Pierre.

But Fogey, that's the logical and smart thing to do.

WOW, what a delimer eh?
As long as we keep winning in the meantime.

So far, so good!!!!

Good Lowe!!

Torre's just playing the hand he's dealt. You just can't bury any one of the 4 at the end of the bench. They're all going to have to play until a trade gets made, someone gets hurt, or one of them, to Torre's satisfaction, plays himself into more or less playing time. SWood's right. A more competent GM would have resolved this situation by now.

Nice start for Lowe! Two groundouts and a K!

I don't know if it's me but I got a very dark MLB-TV screen. but I like the way Derek started off.

Ned and competent have probably not ever been mentioned in the same sentence.

In the last thread, jungar (I think) stated that an "ace" has a WHIP under 1.1. In 2007, in all of major league baseball exactly FOUR pitcher that qualified for the ERA title (162 IP minimum) met that criterion:
.
1 Jake Peavy 1.061
2 Johan Santana 1.073
3 Erik Bedard 1.088
4 Chris Young 1.098
.
That makes "aces" pretty darn scarce.
.
If you relax the criterion to a WHIP under 1.2, you get 15 pitchers:
.
1 Jake Peavy 1.061
2 Johan Santana 1.073
3 Erik Bedard 1.088
4 Chris Young 1.098
5 James Shields 1.107
6 Cole Hamels 1.124
7 Javier Vazquez 1.140
8 Ted Lilly 1.140
9 Josh Beckett 1.141
10 C.C. Sabathia 1.141
11 Aaron Harang 1.144
12 John Smoltz 1.182
13 Brandon Webb 1.189
14 A.J. Burnett 1.189
15 Rich Hill 1.195
.
Only 33 were under 1.3.
.
2007 Dodger starter WHIPs (15 or more starts):
.
Lowe 1.269 (30th in baseball)
Penny 1.308 (34th)
Bills 1.327 (20 starts - did not qualify but would be 41st between Oswalt and C. Zambrano!)
Wolf 1.451 (18 starts)
Tomko 1.596 (15 starts)
Hendy 1.394 (15 starts)

Only 7 pitches by Lowe in the 1st. Maybe he's on tonight.

And JP walks - making me look foolish. I'll take it like a man. If JP keeps walking like this and hits around .300, he'll have close to a league average OPS. With his good baserunner, even account for his terrible arm, that's a decent OF. (But still not more productive than Ethier.)

Good stuff Fogey.

I predict Moehler does not make it through the fifth and the Dodgers rough him up for five or more runs.

Here we F***ing go again. Three hits is a row. Stop the bleeding.....................................................

So much for the 1st being an indicator. Lowe's blowing up.

Nice job Jeffy!! You slug!!

Watch Moehler have the best game he's had in years. We need to strike hard and often tonight.

Derek Lowe vs. the current Astros:
.
**PA** AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
Jose Cruz 39 36 15 4 2 4 11 3 6 .417 .462 .972 1.434
Darin Erstad 32 29 9 4 0 0 3 2 3 .310 .375 .448 .823
Miguel Tejada 32 30 9 0 0 2 5 2 6 .300 .344 .500 .844
Carlos Lee 28 28 10 2 0 2 4 0 2 .357 .357 .643 1.000
Geoff Blum 25 23 7 1 0 1 1 2 2 .304 .360 .478 .838
Mark Loretta 24 22 4 0 0 0 0 2 1 .182 .250 .182 .432
Brad Ausmus 20 20 4 3 0 0 2 0 2 .200 .200 .350 .550
Lance Berkman 20 18 4 1 0 0 1 2 3 .222 .300 .278 .578
Kazuo Matsui 9 8 4 1 0 0 1 1 0 .500 .556 .625 1.181
Ty Wigginton 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 .000
Shawn Chacon 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
=================================================
Total 236 221 66 16 2 9 28 14 27 .299 .343 .511 .854

Only 2, let's get'em back with interest.

Lakers down 7 at start of the 4th.

The 8th guy GIDPing helped tremendously.
.
This is a pitcher that should be owned.

C'mon, let's make this mutha throw some pitches.

Almost, Blake. It's unbelievable that Torre's going to give Nomar 3rd back

Nice at bat Blake!! That's the way you do it.

Torre would be such a hypocrite if he completely stopped playing DeWitt if he was still hot when Nomar was ready. (Starting Nomar over DeWitt against a lefty I could understand.)

That Blake is showing more bat control and discipline with the pitcher than most of our veteran guys - certainly more than Nomore, but what does that matter.

When I look at Hu I wonder about him as a replacement for the powerful Kent.
We're going to lose a lot of homers.

Good hustle Lowe. My granddaughter is faster and she's 6 years old

Dewitt will only get better. Nomar will only decline. Dewitt is the future. Nomar is the past. The future is now.

Joe Pierre - If Hu replaces Kent, then the offense can no longer afford JP and must place Ethier.

Freaking Lowe did that his last game also.

What is this Lowe????????????? Batting practice. Come on. Lowe's not even a # 5 pitcher in my opinion.

Help!! I'm a knucklehead and I can't get to 1st.

I do not approve of sacrificing in the bottom of the 3rd. Especially down four.

Well at least we made Moehler work a little in the 3rd.
He seems to be throwing a lot of strikes.

Nice recovery by Lowe. Hope it isn't too little too late.

The Dodgers drive out Moehler in the next two innings. Book it!

I think Pierre was bunting for a hit.

Damn. Tough break for Jeff.

JP is so bad at bunting for a hit that it's the same as sacrificing.

My Loney has a a first name.......
.
Hey, DeWitt 2 for 2.

Atta Baby, Dewitt. DEEWITT DEELIVERS!!

I admire your ability to get that excited for a single to make it first and second and two outs.

Pretty close play at second.
Maine & now Moehler MMMMMMMMMMMM

Freaking tub butt. 1st pitch weak popup. Geez.

At least Maine is a legitimately good pitcher. Moehler is table scraps.

Well, it's hard to beat even table scraps pitchers if you spot them a 6-0 lead.

Lowe just fed his gopher. At least, the D-Backs lost.

Well, this game is over. We haven't come back from 6 down all year.

I thought that was going to be an easy inning.
I bet Torre doesn't get someone to hit for Lowe.

Now would be a good time to start. But like jhall with the Schmidt situation, I'm not holding my breath.

Well, one consolation, we won't drop out of 2nd place. Would have been nice to pick up game on D'backs,,,,

Come on Kemp get ahold of one.

What the heck? Joe Pierre, you called it. Why let Lowe lead off here? PH someone - heck Kuo even - and let Scott Proctor pitch two innings and try and get untracked. And then Yhency Brazoban can get his feet wet again.

I think if the score was 10-0, Lowe would still be pitching.
I notice Torre likes to hold back his bullpen for as long as possible.

It's a sad game. What can you do when the manager does not want to put the best players on the field, because he wants the do nothing/big contract player show how long he can keep up doing nothing.

My only satisfaction is that Lowe is not having much of a breakout year heading into his free agency. Serves him right, as his potential millions keep drifting away along with his ERA.

Getting Moehler out of the game could be the best thing to happen.
Let's see how we do against the bullpen.

4 more cracks at them. Get a couple here and we got a shot.

This is stupid. Why let Lowe lead off in the bottom of the fifth if you're going to pull him after a walk and a single. I know the stats say Jose Cruz Jr. owns him, but, duh, if you're not going to let Lowe stay in unless it's a 1-2-3 sixth, HIT FOR HIM IN THE FIFTH.

Sure would have been nice and smart to start Ethier against the right hander instead of Tubby!! Kent's error and Lowe's brain f*rt sure changed the complexion of this game early.

Well, if Torre can give up and mail it in, I can too. I am out of here.

Rats!!! We don't play worth a d*mn without Ferk. He really lights this candle.

HaHa, Rocks beat Peavy and the Puds. Something to smile about at least. LOL

I'm nominating Cory Wade for the next #5 start. I believe he was a starter for us in the minors.

I'll go for that Bear. If Penny and Lowe our dynamic 1,2 duo don't get their heads out of their nether region soon, we're going nowhere.

Ever since Lowe came out of a game a few starts back with a "tender" elbow he's pitched crummy. Wonder what's really going on here....

You could be onto something there Kahli.

Astro pitchers are throwing strikes.
They're coming right at us.
And it's working.

Brazobelly!!! Look at the gut on that butterball..

Looks like Andruw has a pal to go get pizza and doughnuts with...

Yep, no buffet in LA is safe now.

Well, at least he can get dusted off in a lost cause.

Good job. Give that man an Eclaire!!!

I am REALLY perplexed at Ethier's sudden fall from grace. I'd like to believe it has more to do with Furcal being sidelined and Dodgers needing a leadoff hitter. But he seemed to be sitting even when Furcal was playing every day. Like we've all said in here a million times (or maybe two million) Ethier is the future. Great defense, great bat. He'd done NOTHING to warrant a prison sentence on the bench. Makes it hard for me to warm up to Torre. First Kemp...now Ethier. Lunacy.

Yep Kahli, its crap!!

Of course it doesn't matter as much when your top 2 pitchers keep getting torched.

Wade looked good. Braz was effective. That's encouraging.

Somewhere down the line...in a perfect world...Schmidt gets healthy, Kershaw rides into town and Pierre is traded--for EVERYONE'S sake. Can't McCourt just sidestep Ned, ala Fox and Fred Claire, and make a trade? If idiots can trade Piazza, what's a little Pierre?

Listening to Vin is about the only good part of this game.

jhall, you get the feeling we're the only ones left in here???????

Procto just bites!! What a waste. Total mop-up guy. I wouldn't let him near a close game.

Yep. The rats all jumped ship. I think PierreEW might be lurking in the background.

I'm still here, just depressed. :)

Well, it's 19-1 in runs scored the last two games!

Shut out two games in a row entering the ninth, composite score of 19-1. Guess Dodgers have cooled, huh?

Is it just a coincidence that Ferk is out during these tough games?

People keep using Ferc's injury as an excuse of why Ethier's not playing. I pulled up Ethier's card on the Ds site. He was starting pretty much every game up to and including May 1st. Since then, two starts. May 4th and 7th. Pierre has started the last 7 games. He's 2 for his last 13 ABs. He's not so hot anymore. Ferc has only missed the last 3.

Whoever maintains the notes on the cards needs to remove the lead for the March 30 story: Ethier wins left field job.

It makes me sick to my stomach to see him sitting.

Last chance to something offensively.
Anything.

Think positively...at least it wasn't our #1 and #2 starters....umm, never mind.

Keep your chins up, guys. Billz pitches tomorrow night. In his last two games Billz has given up just two runs in 13 innings while striking out 12.

Me too Eric. No, Peru, we're not the same team without Ferk.

I agree eric! Ethier is "the player formerly known as the starting LFer".

No jhall, we're not anything near the same. Especially since no Ferc automatically means no Ethier.

Wow, a double by Jones. I might feel better about that if the pitcher wasn't just trying to get this over with.

Nice AB for DeWitt. Got the runner over at leas