Isn't pitching supposedly a Dodger strength?
CHAT ALERT!!!! 3:30 pm!!! CHAT ALERT!!! 3:30 PM!!! CHAT ALERT!!! 3:30 PM.... Did we mention there will be a chat at 3:30 pm? Seriously, we mean it. Chat, 3:30 pm.
At least, that's what all the hype seemed to be about before the All-Star break, if memory serves. But ever since coming out of the vakay, the Blue haven't witnessed a starter put forth a strong outing, the latest example coming during yesterday afternoon's 5-3 loss to the Rockies. Carrying strong a tradition now six nervous days long, Hiroki Kuroda was met with early trouble in the mountains, his first three frames serving up nine hits and five runs. But hey, at least Kuroda lasted six innings, a title only he carries among his fellow starters since last Friday. Despite the unpleasant trend in the works, however, the panic buttons in Rick Honeycutt's office will remain unpressed, in part because the Dodgers didn't lose on Wednesday simply because of their new mound struggles.
As has been the case all season, offensive chances to turn the contest
into a winner went presented and uncashed on the day. The eighth
inning saw Jeff Kent on third and James Loney on second (courtesy of an
error), only to see Andruw Jones (seen by some as sliiiiiiiightly better these days) and Andy LaRoche (not helping his rumored showcase starts) get whiffed by Taylor Buchholz. One frame earlier, Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier fanned with Blake DeWitt rather eager to advance from first to home. All in all, yet another losing box score. Thankfully, the damage feels somewhat minimal. You gotta love the healing power of a seriously crappy division.
Even if you buy that Jones is playing sliiiiiiiiightly better, he's still got a long way to go before reaching a level of "better" that requires no qualifiers. But when/if that day does come (and thank Jeff Pentland if it does), you'll know, because Jones' slump is impossible to overlook.
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Pitching will be better once Schmidt comes around.
Posted by: benzojones | July 24, 2008 at 09:21 AM
Benzo -- We should all live so long.
While the starters certainly have been rusty since the All-Star break (What, were they so busy playing Halo or something to throw a little bit and stay fresh while on vacation?), it seems like they compounded the problem by using three starters in Colorado who were completely inexperienced in the particular demands of pitching there. Lowe and Billz might possibly have had better luck.
And one other thing.... As much as Brad Penny so completely does NOT deserve a bobblehead night at this point in the season, at least the commercial for it, with Russell Martin, is insanely cool. Now, why can't the team do more marketing like that? Yeah, I know they're trying to push their 50 years of history hard this year, but if I see those Tommie Davis or Ron Cey commercials again, I'm going to claw my eyes out. (At least the Nancy Bea one is kind of cool, although I may not think so after seeing it another 500 times.)
Posted by: Eric B. | July 24, 2008 at 09:51 AM
Benzo,
i hope that won´t happen until Sept ´09, looking for the contract extension
Posted by: tio | July 24, 2008 at 09:59 AM
Andruw Jones says he's not hitting because he's been seeing some tough pitches? Who's he kidding. That Glendon Rush, he's a master of mystery. Kip Wells couldn't retire the opposing pitcher, but he had no trouble getting Fatso out.
I never thought I'd see this, but I long for Juan Pierre and his weak groundouts to second. Those would have scored at least one run yesterday.
Frankly, what would be so terrible about sending Jones down to Las Vegas? I know it's a huge diss to a proven major league veteran, especially one earning $18 million, but how else do you motivate a guy to stop swinging wildly at pitches out of the zone? REPKO did not impress in the one game they let him play after an all-night flight from Vegas, but honestly, if you’re going to give Jones four months to work his way out of a slump, you could at least give Repko four days.
I suspect the Jones experiment ends Saturday, when Pierre returns. The Dodgers just can’t afford to have his horrendous bat in the lineup every day. If he doesn’t become the fourth outfielder/late-inning defensive replacement ASAP, I see no reason to continue to watch this team. That will confirm every moronic thing we think about Ned Colletti: that talent means nothing next to the amount of money he overpaid for a player.
What’s next? Does Jason Schmidt returns to the roster, despite an inability to retire AA batters, and take Billingsley’s spot in the rotation?
Come on, Flanders. The mark of a real man is his ability to admit his mistakes. Don’t compound yours by keeping Fatso in the lineup every day. This team just might win something despite your best attempts to ruin it. You’re going to get fired if they don’t win the division, so you might as well let them try with the players who are actually producing.
Posted by: SaMo | July 24, 2008 at 10:01 AM
EricB, this is Tivo. Tivo, meet Eric.
Tivo lets you skip the commercials, trips to the mound, hours between pitches of a Nomar at-bat, and other dead time during a baseball game. just wait until half an hour after the game starts and catch up over the course of the next three hours. It's fantastic.
Posted by: SaMo | July 24, 2008 at 10:15 AM
I have been a Dodger fan since the 70s. I can't watch them anymore. They have lost their greatness. When did we not have a starting pitcher in the All Star Game? When did we not have a couple of big bats for home runs? What has happened to the superior Dodgers? And when will they get Jones outta there? You know what? Their games are boring, no offense, nothing good happening since l988. 20 years of this is too much for me. LA fans deserve better cause this team really stinks. And I don't know what Joe Torre can do about it.
Posted by: Patricia Marte' | July 24, 2008 at 10:47 AM
once flanders is gone, and someone competent put in his place, the team will slowly start to improve. we will contend in 3-5 yrs. It would be smart to have a fire sale, getting rid of all the vets, let the kids play, add a few more kids, and watch this team develop. i think the fans would be happy if the team actually had a direction. youth is that direction...
we cant have it both ways
Posted by: dave m | July 24, 2008 at 11:20 AM
AK/BK
I don't think that AJ is sliiiiightly better. Better than what. Instead of batting .145 he's hitting .167. Just about the same as a good hitting pitcher. Who needs that. So lets see what happens when Pierre comes back. Maybe Ned can convince AJ to go on the DL for the rest of the year and send him to the fat farm. That would be a win-win for all parties. Aj still gets paid and we don't have to see him any more. I call this a win -win because his salary has to be paid no matter what.
David S
Posted by: DavidS | July 24, 2008 at 01:58 PM
David S,
Keep in mind. "We" never claimed AJ was sliiiiiightly better. We just linked an article making that point. In this particular, we're just delivering the news.
AK
Posted by: Andrew Kamenetzky | July 24, 2008 at 02:13 PM
Andruw Jones was hitting .165 when he went on the DL. He's hitting .166 now. So he's definitely improving. :-)
The guy hasn't hit above .200 since the third day of the season. Whatever it is clearly isn't getting better. I can't see that continued play is going to help.
Posted by: SaMo | July 24, 2008 at 03:26 PM
And so Andruw says he is getting tough pitches to hit plus he is not worrying about Pierre returning and losing playing time........someone needs to tell him to return to Planet Earth. Does he EVER show remorse or tell fans he has let them down....he is the single most clueless highly paid athlete I have ever seen. And finally, the fact that we have two batting coaches working daily with an $18 million player to help him make contact with the ball is just not comprehensible to me.
Posted by: bob | July 24, 2008 at 05:27 PM
Well, there are 61 games remaining. Even though the Dodgers are below .500, if they get AJ out of the line-up, don't jerk around the lineup too much and the pitching continues to holdup or perhaps goes on a real solid end game. The Dodgers have 47 games left with teams below .500 and have 31 home dates left. They have a very good opportunity to take the West It is crunch time!!!
Package
Posted by: Package | July 24, 2008 at 06:55 PM
Let's see what the lineup looks like when Pierre comes back. Will we get our wish that Aj is benched AND Pierre bats eighth??? And who gets cut????
David S
Posted by: DavidS | July 24, 2008 at 07:26 PM
Dave: We dont wanna wait 3-5 years for the 'kids' to develop. Sometimes the 'kids' don't get better. Sometimes they just stay the way they are. Ever since O'Malley sold the team it's been downhill. Mike Socia took the Dodger game-plan, the Campanas, Lasorda and the Dodger spirit to Anaheim. He made it happen again, the old Dodger way. That's why they are the best team in baseball. McCord should spend his money on franchise players, not on a half-billion dollar stadium face-lift.
Posted by: Patricia Marte' | July 24, 2008 at 08:46 PM