Ethier wins the LF gig
As reported by Ken Gurnick of MLB.com. Needless to say, it's a decision supported here at Blue Notes. Again, it's not that Pierre is terrible- he isn't. Just that Ethier is a better all-around option. And while Spring Training stats are generally meaningless, if you want to say they were in a competition for the job, Ethier certainly outplayed JP.
What happens from here, it's hard to predict. But in the short term at least, the Dodgers put on-field performance ahead of cost considerations, and it was the right decision.
BK
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And so Pierre goes out today and tries to prove everyone wrong by ... getting picked off first after leading off the third with a single. I'm just listening to the radio feed, but it sounded like he was out by a mile, too.
Then immediately afterward when the Dodgers load the bases, Ethier punches in two runs with a base hit.
Yeah.
I'm glad Torre made the right call. You have to play your best players. Simple as that.
Posted by: MBS | March 30, 2008 at 02:07 PM
There is JUSTICE in Dodgertown!
Posted by: Brian | March 30, 2008 at 02:56 PM
Yup it happened,
I was a supporter and still a fan of Juan Pierre, but I like Andre Ethier's play. This is good for the Blue Crew.I put Andre on my fantasy team too. Go Dodgers
Posted by: fred | March 30, 2008 at 03:29 PM
Nice bit of 1-hit shutout baseball today from the Blue! Nice to see Kuroda backed up by Kershaw and both pitch beautifully!
Posted by: Brian | March 30, 2008 at 04:41 PM
YEAH! -Torre knows whats up
Go Andre - and I hope Juan is clutch off the bench
Posted by: jukuren | March 30, 2008 at 06:30 PM
Pierre and Ethier were my two favorite position players last year, so I was bound to feel bad for one of them.
On Friday's game I had a good view of the dugout, and was sorry to see he did sorta look isolated. At one point, Hu missed a bunt attempt and went over to get some pointers from him, but other than that I didn't notice a lot of camaraderie around him. Was hard not to feel for the guy. I'm hoping that somehow we'll still get to see quite a bit of him this year.
Posted by: Steve | March 30, 2008 at 06:57 PM
pierre got STARTLED by the pick off. He started walking off first and changing his gloves and the pither wheeled and threw and when the ball hit the glove, Pierre jumped cuz it startled him. he never saw the throw coming. he looked at Duncan for not yelling quicker but he didnt pay any attention to the pitcher.
Posted by: trapper9 | March 30, 2008 at 07:09 PM
pierre got STARTLED by the pick off. He started walking off first and changing his gloves and the pither wheeled and threw and when the ball hit the glove, Pierre jumped cuz it startled him. he never saw the throw coming. he looked at Duncan for not yelling quicker but he didnt pay any attention to the pitcher.
Posted by: trapper9 | March 30, 2008 at 07:09 PM
Juan Pierre has delivered consistent stats his whole career, so there's no reason to think he wouldn't continue in 2008. Pierre will come around, but not if he's sitting on the bench. The problem is Andruw Jones. He hit .222 last year, and by the end of spring training he was hitting... .214. We didn't need him. The power we can get from Ethier, Kemp & Loney would suffice. But that's Ned Coletti for you. He doesn't trust young talent (Estaban Loiaza named 5th starter, Clayton Kershaw to AA). Perhaps the solution is the most expensive platoon in history--Jones & Pierre at the cost of $27,000,000 ($18M + $9M, repectively).
Posted by: Ophelia Jackson | March 31, 2008 at 12:30 AM
Put Jason Repko on the ML Roster. Give him a decent amount of playing time in CF. I would predict that the Dodgers will have found that CF-er. The heck with the over-priced rejects from other teams.
Scott, H-Town Dodger Fan
Posted by: The Scottman | March 31, 2008 at 07:44 AM