Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting
But apparently, Saturday afternoon is an inappropriate time for such activity, since the Dodgers bullpen refused to show any.
Although to be fair, Danys Baez did have a little help creating a 6-5 loss to the Giants. I'll go out on a limb and say that the Willy Aybar jerseys aren't flying off the racks right now. Partially because I doubt any are actually available for sale at the moment (the dude was just called up, after all). And partially because his error on a Pedro Feliz ground ball put an extra runner on base during that four run, ninth inning fiasco. But while Aybar's errors are certainly unacceptable, at least he's a guy who's yet to make his bones in The Show. Baez ain't exactly a newbie, which makes a fifth blown save in mid-May a shade disturbing. The guy only bricked eight during 2005's entire season.
On the plus side, the phrases "Nomar hit a homer" and "Kent just jacked one out" are starting to prompt very "been there, done that" reactions. And Aaron Sele's 7 inning, 2 run performance certainly helped solidify his standing as a member of the starting rotation. He should have the descriptor "2-0" next to his name.
AK
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This bullpen is blowing it night in and night out at every single level. The hitting is there. The starting pitching is there. Four run leads give me a sick feeling these days... I see it coming!
Posted by: Stinger | May 13, 2006 at 06:44 PM
Where is Andy Laroche the super prospect third baseman? I thought Mueller was just keeping it warm for him anyways. Aybar is not the future. Why bother?
Posted by: Steve Riffle | May 13, 2006 at 09:25 PM
Any chance Gagne can pitch with his left hand so he can come back now?
Posted by: Aaron | May 14, 2006 at 09:26 AM
Does anyone know when Gagne is coming back. This closer that the Dodgers have is only hurting the team, and I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel. My gut tells me not to trust this mediocre pitcher. But again everyone is mediocre compared to Gagne.
Posted by: dodgersfanpsyche | May 14, 2006 at 09:38 AM
Steve Riffle-
LaRoche is currently at AA Jacksonville, and isn't exactly knocking the cover off the ball (.257), although his high walk count and OBP (.370) suggests a good eye. He's also made 8 errors at third this year. So indications are he's not ready yet- '07, '08, probably. As for Aybar, I think they like him, especially his hitting ability.
But no doubt they need to improve their infield defense. They're weak defensively at the corners (no disrespect to Nomar, but he's learning a new position that is harder than it looks), Kent catches everything that comes to him, but doesn't have great range, and Furcal isn't bad, but isn't exactly a gold glover (really makes you appreciate how good Izturis is) either.
The bullpen has been the #1 problem this season and needs to get fixed, but the defense hasn't been so hot either. That's not a great combination.
BK
Posted by: Brian Kamenetzky | May 14, 2006 at 09:49 AM
Steve,
LaRoche played in AA last year. While many players have jumped from AA to the Bigs, I think the consensus is that LaRoche still needs a year or so of seasoning in the minors before he is ready (in keeping with the plan of not rushing our prospects). Mueller IS keeping the bag warm for him, so Colletti was willing to sign him for 2 years in case LaRoche needed the extra time to develop.
Aybar might not be our future 3B, but I really like him as a future bench player. The guy can hit, and he also has a little pop in his bat. As far as him being a defensive liability, the Killer Tomato isn’t exactly a defensive All-Star either. I can live with a few Aybar errors since he brings so many intangibles off the bench.
We didn’t lose yesterday’s game because Aybar made an error. We lost that game because Baez stunk the joint up. I could tell the way Finley ripped the ball that we were in for a long day. I don’t understand why Little didn’t have someone warming up in the pen at the first sign of trouble. I know the game is supposed to end with your closer, win or lose, but Little himself has said that there are no determined roles in the pen at this point. When your closer has blown 6 saves in the first month-or-so you need to have a contingency plan ready. I could care less about Baez’s ego or confidence level. The guy is not a rookie and the bottom line is that we need to win ballgames. How far in the hole do we need to get before we realize it’s time to turn the green light on? Our bullpen is going to struggle all year long so there will be other blown games. We certainly don’t need to be throwing away winnable games like we did yesterday, and certainly not to the chant of BEAT L.A. (I hate losing to the Giants!!!)
Posted by: LoLo | May 14, 2006 at 10:32 AM
Ooops. Sorry BK. I didn’t notice you had replied to Steve (I should refresh the page more often). Didn’t mean to steal your thunder, haha.
Posted by: LoLo | May 14, 2006 at 10:34 AM
everybody just relax man!! once Gagne comes back EVERYTHING WILL FALL INTO PLACE! there's still alot of baseball to be played.
oh one more thing THIS DODGER FAN STILL BELIEVES!!
Posted by: bluebleeder | May 14, 2006 at 10:44 AM
Lolo-
No worries. As for Little not warming up anyone once Baez got in trouble, it might have been because he looked at who was still available and just didn't like the options (hahaha). Like bringing in gasoline to put out the fire.
BK
Posted by: Brian Kamenetzky | May 14, 2006 at 10:53 AM
During the telecast, did anyone hear the guy yelling "Kent, you stink!" (if I recall correctly)
Next pitch he smacked it out of the park. I wonder if Kent heard him?
Posted by: Andy B | May 14, 2006 at 03:23 PM