Kershaw, part dos
Under most circumstances, today's storyline would be how the Dodgers would attempt topping last night's offensive juggernaut amounting to a 16-10 win over the Colorado Rockies. Would James Loney double his pleasure and rack ten ribbies (remember, his career high is nine and came in the Sunshine State)? Would a challenge be issued between Loney, Jeff Kent or Russell Martin to become today's four hit guy, since the three sat on a trio of knocks? Would today end up the Bizarro-World version game and ALL of the scores would come courtesy of Andruw Jones, the only member of the starting nine (including pitcher Eric Stults) not to send a teammate across the plate (and how much longer the Dodgers can- and will- suffer through AJ's lack of production, since Juan Pierre is currently en route for an ahead of schedule Vegas rehab assignment).
But with Clayton Kershaw recalled to action and taking the mound, eyes
shift from the bats to the golden arm of a certain
20-year old wunderkind. Having seen him work just over a month with
the big club before (to the disappointment of some fans) getting sent
back to Double-A Jacksonville, the prized lefty is in rotation
again (in place of Eric Stults, now working in Sin City),
a spot he'll hold throughout the season if Joe Torre's visions don't
find reason for altering. His trip back to the Minors was indeed
prosperous, a 2-0 clip coming off eighteen innings of work (if you even
want to call it "work," since he was only getting tagged with a 1.00
ERA). But the Major Leagues, as Kershaw is well aware, remains a
whole different ball of wax. Mowing over Joe Q. MinorLeaguer ain't the
same thing as whiffing the Chipper Joneses of the world, thus everyone will be closing critiquing every pitch leaving
Kershaw's southern paw.
Obviously, Coors may not be the greatest park when it comes to evaluating a pitcher's prowess (lest we forget, the Dodgers gave up 10 during last night's romp), but once this series wraps, the rookie will throw in venues more friendly to his skill set. On those days, what are you looking for when judging optimistic progress on Kershaw's part? Control? The ability to go further than six innings (which he's only done once)? How quickly it takes for him to finally nab that elusive win #1? A different bit of criteria entirely?
Personally, I'm hoping to see Kershaw's appearances grow increasingly less labored. Even in games where he's provided the Dodgers a reasonable shot at a win, he's often had to work VERY hard, even during frames with no runs surrendered. I'm not expecting things to all of a sudden come easy. Kershaw''s young, very inexperienced and I happen to be a patient, realistic person. Developing into the talent everyone sees Kershaw as takes time. But I'd love to start seeing 60-ish percent of his frames on the hill come a little easier (as opposed to his first time up, where that was a 50/50 proposition at best). Should my particular goal come to fruition, I think a lot of his other issues will start surfacing less often.
What's your thought?
AK
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AK,
Kershaw sure needs an ego boost, and bringing him back to pitch in Coors seems like a blunder to me. Talk about blunders, it will really be interesting to see what happens when Pierre comes back. Will AJ gets the benching he deserves? One thing I am willing to bet on--Torre will bat Pierre leadoff claiming he likes his speed --blah blah blah--even though Kemp has shown speed, power, OBP, hits etc.
David
Posted by: DavidS | July 22, 2008 at 03:44 PM
Claw needs one more pitch
Posted by: benzojones | July 22, 2008 at 03:46 PM
Is there some kind of stipulation in Jone's contract that prevents the Dodgers to sending him down to the minors? When Juan gets back - that is exactly where Andruw should go - play him everyday down there, riding buses back and forth to games until he can start making contact on a regular basis.
Put Juan in left and bat him 8th, leave Kemp batting leadoff.
IIt's SIMPLE, really.
Posted by: ASW | July 22, 2008 at 04:04 PM
David S,
A night at Coors certainly isn't a guaranteed confidence lift for anyone, much less a rook. But at the same time, if he's not going to be babied(which everyone said wouldn't be the goal, save an innings count), this would be part of the process. I see your point, but I don't really have a problem with him throwing in Colorado.
AK
Posted by: Andrew Kamenetzky | July 22, 2008 at 04:17 PM
He needs one more pitch... AND a Binkie!
Posted by: benzojones | July 22, 2008 at 04:21 PM
I have to agree that throwing the Claw in Coors is like throwing steak to lions. The Rockies are going to eat him up, I'm afraid. Let's hope for the best. You know, like we've been doing for four months with Fatass.
Posted by: SaMo | July 22, 2008 at 04:34 PM
Tony Jackson interviewed Joe and he was non-commital about sitting Jones.
Holy Cow Batman!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What do Kemp and Ethier have to do to not lose playing time to smirky and slappy?
I have been a fan of Ned mainly because he has not traded away our future for a one time run at glory.
However, he has really hurt this team with Jones, Schmidt, Pierre, Gonzalez, Loaiza, etc when they are used over more talented youngsters.
He could have signed Lofton for one year instead of Slappy for 5. I knew we would regret having to trade Cody Ross. I would love to see an outfield of Kemp, Ethier, and Ross.
I guess what I am saying that it is a compound error when these has beens are preventing our more talented youth.
Rant over.
Posted by: Lex | July 22, 2008 at 05:49 PM
Iffy call bringing him back up to start at Coors....however, maybe he'll take it as a sign of confidence and run with it, clearly by letting him go at Coors the training wheels are off.
Posted by: Mike G | July 22, 2008 at 06:09 PM
Well, SaMo, the lions are feasting and FAJ has struck out....not much to hope for tonight.
Posted by: QueenBee | July 22, 2008 at 06:34 PM
AK,
I'm not saying to baby him. But maybe give him a pass to not start in the worst possible place his first game back.
David S
Posted by: DavidS | July 22, 2008 at 06:59 PM
David S,
"AK, I'm not saying to baby him. But maybe give him a pass to not start in the worst possible place his first game back."
I don't see what the big deal is. The kid's only given up 5 runs in three innings (so far). Obviously, I know what I'm talking about. Haha
I don't know how I have a job.
AK
Posted by: Andrew Kamenetzky | July 22, 2008 at 07:03 PM
OK so what did Kershaw gain from tonites performance?
David
Posted by: DavidS | July 22, 2008 at 07:05 PM
I'm with Benzo on this one. Kershaw may have "electric stuff", but 2 pitches is not going to cut it for a MLB starter.
Posted by: OhioVic | July 22, 2008 at 07:09 PM
AK,
Your job is to entertain us, not to make management decisions. So you can breathe easy tonite.
David
Posted by: DavidS | July 22, 2008 at 07:13 PM
This looks like its about to get real UGLy. How come we can't get any hits?
DS
Posted by: DavidS | July 22, 2008 at 07:15 PM
Kershaw has been behind almost every batter and when he has to come in it's belt high or above...he might have some nasty stuff but if he doesn't through them for strikes he not going to last long as a MLB pitcher
Posted by: K T | July 22, 2008 at 07:16 PM
That was a pretty bad move on the dodgers.... kid looks like he has the yips now.
AND LaRoche is trying to kill Martin.
Posted by: benzojones | July 22, 2008 at 07:17 PM
AK -
You are right it's not a big deal for a big league pitcher to pitch in Colorado and in fact they should.
The Claw is NOT a big league pitcher yet, and now I'm afraid the Dodgers have just screwed him up for years.
The move probably cost us a young pitchers sanity, will further deplete the bullpen, and ultimately will cost us 1st place.
Johnson coulda done this all on his own.
Dumb... very dumb.
Posted by: benzojones | July 22, 2008 at 07:23 PM
Nice to see the offense carrying the team the last 5 or 6 games. Would be great to see that continue for the rest of the season. Would not bet anything that the offense will continue to carry them to wins for long based on the patchy performances for the whole season. I am just a bit concerned about not one quality start in the first 5 games since the break. The pitching has to carry this team and hopefully this is just a post All Star hiccup. Only hope in this one is that Jimenez pulls a hammy or something.
Cheers to Kershaw having better days since he was proclaimed a starter for the rest of the season. Are we sure about having an extra starter to trade?
Posted by: Mike in Sactown | July 22, 2008 at 07:30 PM
How does a team go from 16 runs on 18 hits one night to one bloop hit the next ? The Dodgers have now been outscored 12-0 over the last 9 innings - not that I'm keeping track..........
Posted by: OhioVic | July 22, 2008 at 07:31 PM
Can we please get to the pen?!? That's where we make our comebacks.
Posted by: VA Blueblood | July 22, 2008 at 07:41 PM
for a guy who supposedly has overpowering stuff, the "claw" sure seems quite a bit underwhelming!!!
Posted by: dodger55 | July 22, 2008 at 08:30 PM
Man, this kid sucks. Park should be starting, and Kershaw belongs in the minors for at least another year.
Posted by: Demo | July 22, 2008 at 09:07 PM
Yankees Want lowe
Question is, who could we get for him off their roster? hmm..
source: www.dodgerupdates.com
Posted by: the2ndbeaner | July 22, 2008 at 09:37 PM
"Man, this kid sucks."
Wrong choice of words. Has anyone forgotten that Kershaw is 20 years old? Did he ask to pitch his first game back at Coors Field?
Kershaw does NOT suck. He's young, inexperienced, and lacks the command of an older, more seasoned pitcher. He's making mistakes that a player of his age would normally make unnoticed in a less pressure packed minor league venue.
This team as a whole still needs to do a lot of growing, and Kershaw is a large part of it. Since the future of this team lies largely with its young players, I say, keep Kershaw in the rotation, and let him continue the growth process in the major leagues. He'll undoubtedly take his lumps on occasion, but I also believe he will have his successes. This year can be a valuable part of his baseball education. I believe he has the makeup to overcome any adversity he encounters this year. If anything, this years struggles are likely to contribute to his becoming a better pitcher in the long run. And let's not forget, at most, he will pitch only one more game in Coors this year (after this series,the Dodgers visit Colorado for one more three game series in September).
Let Kershaw learn this year, and then apply those lessons beginning in spring training next year. With an additional year of maturity and experience at the major league level, I believe that he will return next year a far more finished product.
If you think Pierre sucks, say it. If you think Andruw Jones sucks, say that also. And the same can be said for a number of other players. But please, give Kershaw some time to grow before labeling him as a player that "sucks".
Posted by: Brooklyn Dodger | July 22, 2008 at 10:13 PM