Ain't Rocky Facing the Rockies
Six games and counting. That's the streak the Dodgers have going as they made easy work of the Rockies in an 8-1 win. Brad Penny was a work horse, working both batters (five scoreless innings) and his own arm (the 104 pitch count explains a high success, low mound time night). Penny obviously would have liked to remain on the hill, but after tossing so many fouled off balls, the exit made sense even to a competitive athlete like him. More importantly, the flurry of tips didn't frustrate him ("Stuff like that is out of my control.") and his recent back problems didn't flare up again. Penny will be visiting back specialist Dr. Robert Watkins tomorrow, but this had been planned before tonight's game, anyway. Everything felt good and he experienced no tightness.
Grady Little praised the "good performances all over the field," and thought the pitching was excellent, "outside of the one ball that left the ball park." Sure, Garrett Atkins' blast probably wasn't what Tim Hamulack had in mind to start out the 6th. But on a night when Kenny Lofton alone accounted for 13 bases, it seems rather trivial. What doesn't feel like a trifle, however, is the actual amount of running K. Lo did, given that he just rested a bad hammy. Lofton's season will be a balancing act of balls out sprinting and rest, but a formula that Little won't tweak too much. "If we sway from our program, maybe he won't be able to give us that kind of production." Little also played devil's advocate when a reporter commented that the team was making winning look easy. "It's easy to lose games," insisted Little. Fortunately, that outcome is looking awfully tough at the moment for the Dodgers.
More to come tomorrow.
AK
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Since I can't be in front of a computer btwn 230pm-6am, I'm going to try to comment on aaaaalllll that I've read.
**Izzy will get back & will have to play a different position. Which sucks. ::shrugging::
**Navarro has NO defense...NONE... NADA...ZILCH
..his offense is so so... but still NOOOOO defense
Going back to last year when fruity DePodesta aquired Navarro from the D-Backs his argument for exchanging Green for Navarro was that Navarro was going to provide defense behind the plate.
Navarro has YET to show any defensive skills.
Trade him, send him to the minors, disown him.
I think it was BK that said that as long as Martin's defensive skills are being displayed even if his offense goes through a slump the dodgers will be happy.
I think that Martin was overlooked during spring training because he's been a catcher less years than Navarro. You can't tell by watching them play since Martin looks a lot more comfortable than Navarro does behind the plate.
**Penny was in some obvious pain in last night's game. When he threw some pitches you could see his back was giving him problems. He pitched great, even if was only 5 innings.
**as a side note I think I've got my husband hooked on watching the dodgers...he was quite entertained watching Penny get a hit & run the bases...I think Penny's size shocked him a little especially after watching Seo & ByunK pitch last night. It also helps that the dodgers have been great this month, it's hard even for a "non-fan" to not cheer them on.
Posted by: MrsThinkBlue | May 24, 2006 at 07:38 AM
I haven't been paying as much attention to the Dodgers as I would like (which will start to change) so I haven't noticed how the starting rotation is doing, but do you think there is a possibility of trading for Dontrell Willis? I love Cesar Izturis but obviously we have a guy in Furcal who isn't going anywhere (especially with his salary). Maybe Izturis could be packaged in a deal for Dontrell.
On the other hand, without knowing how long Jeff Kent is going to play for, could Furcal move to second with Izturis playing short after Kent retires?
What do you think?
Posted by: Deepak B | May 24, 2006 at 07:46 AM
Hello Brothers K! I have migrated from the Lakers blog to the Dodgers since this season seems the most promising after the 2004 divisional winning season. I like what I see so far, and I think that with Gagne coming back, as well as Izzy, this team should take the division as well as make some noise in September. But this is pending that everyone can remain healthy, which for some odd reason I believe will happen. BTW, what happened to Odalis? It seems like after the WBC, he has just tanked! GO DODGERS!!!!
Posted by: Chris | May 24, 2006 at 08:29 AM
What I think alot of people are overlooking on the Navarro/Martin situation is team chemistry, something DePodesta had no knowledge of. The Dodgers are 15-2 with Martin behind the plate. Team chemistry is a crucial factor in any team's success. The Dodgers have great chemistry right now and it's only going to get better as soon as Gagne gets done with his rehab assignment in Vegas.
As far as Izturis's return, this does pose a problem. I've heard rumors that the Red Sox are interested in him so he can be reunited with Cora. I don't think we could get Dontrel Willis straight up for Izturis. It will be interesting to see what happens before the All-Star break.
Posted by: Keota | May 24, 2006 at 09:11 AM
I'm curious. Is the ban on non-personal music still in effect? Last I heard, players could only use personal music players inside the locker room.
Brothers K,
You seem somewhat tight with the players, or at least accepted. Which players (Gange and Martin are a given) tend to hang out together? How much of the team chemistry can be attributed to Little's style of coaching. Could Little's style of coaching be described as "laid back"?
aaron
Posted by: Pho 06 | May 24, 2006 at 10:20 AM
Pho6,
As far as the music goes, I don't know, but I'll keep an eye out for players wearing head phones. Or just ask a rep.
We haven't really spent enough time around the players yet to know who's hanging with whom, since the season's so young. Plus, it seems like a fair amount of the guys are married, so when they're in L.A., many likely just go home. As far as hanging out on the road, we don't travel with the team, so it's also tough to say. But it's something that I imagine we'll get a better sense of as the season progresses, and we'll let y'all know.
I don't know if I've seen enough of Little's coaching style yet to say for sure whether or not it's "laid back." But he certainly seems to be, if nothing else. Or at least that's how he's struck me so far.
Thanks for checking out the blog. Appreciate it.
AK
Posted by: Andrew Kamenetzky | May 24, 2006 at 10:50 AM
This Dodger team is beginning to look like a team we might want to keep. Now can we have the names back on their uniforms?
Posted by: Don Babb | May 24, 2006 at 12:44 PM
Question for the K brothers. What's up with Odalis Perez? When the guy is on he can be great, but it seems like his personality gets in the way as much as anything. He ripped his team mates on offence 2 years ago but has kept is mouth shut since, at least in the press.
With the kind of contract he has (very large!) it seems crazy that he is now camped out in the bullpen. Can you guys shed some light on this? Do you think they will trade him or try to get him back on track?
For what it's worth the Dodgers are playing up to the potential they displayed in camp. They have shrugged off the things that were keeping them down for the first part of the season and are looking great. I was at the 25 hit game last Friday and it was an amazing thing to be a part of. The guys were crushing the ball! If this keeps up post season with be very, very interesting.
GO BLUE!!
Posted by: TrueBlue | May 24, 2006 at 04:41 PM
TrueBlue-
Hey. Odalis Perez is in Dodger Jail, and I don't think he's gonna get out soon barring injury or some other calamity. You're correct, though, it's basically an issue of personality and work ethic. I don't know exactly what the specific issues are in terms of what prompted the recent exile, but they seem pretty bad. Colletti made it pretty clear yesterday talking to the media that they're perfectly willing to play essentially shorthanded by a roster spot. It didn't sound to me like there was a solution that keeps him in a Dodger uni coming anytime soon.
The problem is he's hard to move. He makes a ton of money and doesn't exactly have the greatest rep in the world. I'm pretty sure the Dodgers would give him away at this point, especially if a team would pick up his contract. Short of that, it could take a little while to move him. It's an interesting situation, no doubt. Because as you point out, he's not a terrible pitcher.
Hope that answers your question. We'll keep bringing news as it comes up. Grady talked about Perez tonight, so we'll try to get the full copy up there ASAP.
BK
Posted by: Brian Kamenetzky | May 24, 2006 at 06:34 PM
Guys, Just found this blog, die hard Dodger fan, loving the new season, nice mix of rookies and vets. The deals in the offseason seemed to be made with some vision, which as we all know has been lacking around here lately. I see OD Perez, riding the pine for awhile until one of the big spenders in the AL East need some pitching down the stretch. Anyway keep up the good work. atbat31
Posted by: David Fox | May 25, 2006 at 10:06 AM
This current winning streak is great!! One of the great things about it is that T.J Simers has been pretty quiet lately. That is until this morning when I read his column. I just hope that the Dodgers keep winning so that we will not hear from him too much. GO DODGERS!!!!!!
Posted by: Gerardo | May 25, 2006 at 12:04 PM
The only move the Dodgers need to make is to get rid of Odalis. The guy is a time bomb just waiting to explode and cause trouble. Right now the team chemestry is as good as it can be. Trade Odalis anywhere for a prospect.
Posted by: Gerardo | May 25, 2006 at 12:19 PM
With Billingsley possibly starting Thursday, here's a rundown (in order of priority) of what to accomplish before July 31: 1) another 7th & 8th inning reliever, 2) a left handed starting pitcher for the stretch run and 3) maybe a power bat.
Our trade bait: Navarro, Guzman, Izturis, and either Jae Seo or Odalis Perez (preferably Perez).
RELIEVER - Saito can fill Gagne's role just fine as long as Baez gets some help in the setup. We've seen great promise from Broxton and recently from Kuo, but these guys are both young and we've seen enough meltdowns this season to justify another arm.
STARTING PITCHER We have post season experience in Penny & Lowe, but we can't ride them all summer then expect them to be nails in October. Tomko will eat some innings and Sele might continue to shine as a 5th starter, but Dontrelle Willis or Barry Zito would be huge.
BIG BAT This would be a nice bonus but, playing in Dodger stadium, I'll take my chances with our gap hitters like Nomar, Kent, Drew and Furcal.
Posted by: borntobleedblue | June 13, 2006 at 03:44 PM