Get well, Raffy!
The Dodgers learned last year, when Rafael Furcal was hobbled with an ankle injury and the life was sucked out of their lineup like it was hooked to that funky machine in The Princess Bride, that his presence makes a substantial difference in the dynamics of the team. Over the last three games while Furcal has been laid up with a bum back, they've received a reminder. Friday night, it came in the form of a 7-1 loss to the Astros in which the Dodger bats were, as was the case in Wednesday afternoon's 12-1 loss to New York, inert against Houston starter Brian Moehler and a batch of relievers. It was enough to get some thinking of what a Furcal-less future might look like if the Blue don't resign the free agent to be. The hope is that he'll play tonight, which ideally solves one problem. The other, though, is still a question. That would be pitching. Derek Lowe again struggled on Friday, extending a string of short outings from Blue starters. The box shows six earned runs, eight hits and two walks in only 5.1 innings for the righty- not quite what he, or the Dodgers, were looking for.
How big a problem are the short outings from the starters? Depends on your perspective, really. At least the pen got a boost with the return of Yhency Brazoban, who has made his way back from a host of injuries.
For those of you who couldn't read the BP version, Joe Sheehan's take on the Blue (addressed by BK here) is up at SI.com.
TONIGHT'S GAME: Chad Billingsley will look for his third straight positive outing, facing off against Chris Sampson for Houston. Our suggestion? Be careful with Lance Berkman, who has a super sick 15 hits in his last 20 ABs.
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I'm not going to discount Furcal's importance, he has certainly been the early season MVP. However, the last two losses were primarlly the result of starting pitchers putting the Dodgers into an early hole. Also, John Maine was simply dominant on the day he pitched, and I'm not sure the Dodgers would have scored much more with Furcal in the lineup.
Again, Furcal is a vital part of the Dodgers lineup, and his presence on the field everyday is certainly an important part of the formula that will keep this team winning. However, even without Furcal, I do not believe that this team is as punchless as the one we've seen the last couple of days.
All that said, getting Raffy back in the lineup will be a huge plus. However, I do agree with Torre's caution in keeping him out of the lineup until he's 100%. Just remember last year when the Dodgers rushed him back before his ankle was fully healed.
Posted by: Brooklyn Dodger | May 10, 2008 at 05:17 PM
I can't believe that Ethier is out of the lineup again tonight. He won the starting left field job fair and square and did nothing to lose it. Pierre has a few good games and now he's the second coming? Give me a break. He may be nice guy and a hard worker, but he's not half the player Ethier is as far as I'm concerned. Ethier's not even half the player he could be if he got to play every day like he has earned to do about 10 times over since he became a Dodger and he works hard too. So much for Joe Torre saying he didn't want Ethier to be looking over his shoulder and that he was one of the few players that had earned to play every day after he won the starting job.
I've been a Dodger fan for a long, long time, but I am really getting sick of the lack of commitment to fielding the best team possible. The only thing Ethier has done wrong is to not make a lot of money. Maybe he would have been better off to stuff his face the entire off season like Jones apparently did instead of working out twice a day, six days a week with Dustin Pedroia and a group of other MLB players during the off season, as it obviously doesn't count for much.
Posted by: bcg60 | May 10, 2008 at 06:40 PM
Ethier hits for show and not for dough. His batting average with men in scoring position is below the Mendoza line... pathetic. So if you are looking for a run scorer, hands down you have to give it to Pierre.
Posted by: stlouisray | May 10, 2008 at 10:22 PM