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Now go get your arse handed to you.
Such was the case with young Clayton Kershaw, newly recalled from Double-A Jacksonville in place of Eric Stults and given the Coors Field hill, often about as pleasant for a pitcher as being given the guillotine. After his part in a 10-1 loss, Kershaw likely felt like his neck had been placed on the block. So much for not sweating a Colorado venue. The lefty's first inning amounted to little damage, but from there, the floodgates were slowly opened, then blown off the hinges. Kershaw never felt out of control during the game, leading one to believe he was putting poorly thrown pitches exactly where he wanted them. Whatever the explanation for the difficulties, the end result saw him last just three plus innings to the tune of five earned runs and ten hits. Fellow newbie Ramon Troncoso was given no more hospitable a greeting, his ninth inning stint racking another four runs for the host. Their mutual struggles might have provided mutual comfort, had both hurlers not watched Ubaldo Jimenez prove this particular field need not equal glorified batting practice. Save a solo long ball given to up Matt Kemp in the ninth, Jimenez was quite the untouchable force in a place not known for touching up box score.
Given that Juan Pierre's current knee injury represents his first ever trip to the Disabled List, it was judge how quick a healer the speedster is. As it turns out, his body rejuvenates at the same pace Pierre runs the bases, which has allowed him to embark on a rehab stint in Vegas way ahead of schedule. If all goes well for JP, he could be available for work come Saturday. That development could theoretically mean nothing going well for Andruw Jones, still struggling at the dish and no longer seemingly guaranteed a place on the field in spite of those struggles. Joe Torre isn't ready to give up on Jones quite yet, but he may not be ready to sacrifice Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp's offense to demonstrate that faith, either.
With all due respect to Pierre, Raffy Furcal or Jason Schmidt, nobody associated with the Dodgers is making a bigger comeback from injury than Luis Arevalo.
Congrats to Walter O'Malley on making the Hall. Hope it was worth the wait.
The series against Colorado remains for the winning, assuming Hiroki Kuroda can utilize some of Danny Ardoin's ex-local knowledge and do a little damage against Glendon Rusch. It's a 12:05 pm PT first pitch, so make sure to set your Tivo or call your boss with a fake illness.
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Gee, maybe starting a rookie at Coors for the second straight night wasn't such a good idea after all. I hate to be an "I told you so" kind of guy, but this one was as obvious as Andrew Jones' inability to make contact. If the Dodgers were reluctant to have him pitch at the Las Vegas launching pad, throwing him into the fire at Coors just doesn’t make any sense at all.
I'm starting to understand why the Dodgers don't win more often: they have DUMB management. Even the move of Stults to AAA was stupid. He is no better or worse a pitcher than Jason Johnson, but he's shown he can spot start, AND he's an excellent hitter. With the Dodgers' meager bench, he's actually a decent option as a pinch-hitter, a la Micah Owings. I'm not saying he's going to be Rick Ankiel, but he gives you one more weapon than Johnson or Troncoso. And sending him up and down constantly uses up his options. Just ask the Dodgers if they wish they hadn't put Delwyn Young on such a yo-yo.
Moreover, Stults didn't pitch great, but how's he going to learn to wiggle out of jams if you don't leave him in the game with a 10-run lead?
I expect an announcement any day now that Brad Penny will return from the DL, and the Dodgers will proclaim him the opening day starter in 2009 AND 2010. What's with the proclamations? You can't simply anoint a guy to a role and have him necessarily succeed. Those jobs have to be earned. Takashi Saito was a wild card when he arrived in 2006, rising to the role of closer after proving his stripes as long man, setup man, 8th-inning man, and finally closer.
Let’s see Kershaw get out AAA hitters before he makes any more starts in the majors. And let’s see Chan Ho Park back in the rotation. The guy gives you a decent outing most of the time, and he’s simply wasted in the bullpen. If you’re trying to capture lightning in a bottle, he’s the classic example. Make him the fourth starter and the kid—be it Johnson, Stults, or Claw—the fifth starter so you don’t burn out their youg arms.
Posted by: SaMo | July 23, 2008 at 10:11 AM
That story about Luis Arevalo makes me want to ride the elevator next time I'm at a Dodger game just so I can meet the guy. Best of luck to him!
Posted by: djansson | July 23, 2008 at 10:26 AM
SaMo,
Good points. I personally believe Kershaw is a solid pitcher. He had a bad outing and it was foreseeable. The Dodger MANAGEMENT (ned) screwed it again. Ned really F's w/ kids heads! Did it to Loney and now to Kershaw. When Kershaw was up the first time, he was showing progress as I recall. He had some really GOOD PITCHED GAMES that the Dodgers F'd up. Kershaw should have been at least .500 but didn't get a WIN b/c the Dogders inadequate offense. They demote the kid??!!! WHY??? Because he needs CONFIDENCE?? and get a win?? Now that he gets called up, he wants to WIN at all cost and tries TOO HARD. I felt him pressing as soon as some things were not going his way. Umpire doesn't give him a close call and he ends up walking the batter. He tries to make sure he throws strikes and then it's a pitch right over the plate.
I'll say this much, if Kershaw was w/ any other team like the Giants and Lineceum, he would be a Rookie of the Year Candidate. The Dodgers of the 70's and 80's made a committment to their young stars and wasn't so wishy washy w/ them. Have confidence in your determination of your young players and play them on a regular basis... when did it become the Dodgers Way to promote, demote rookies throughout the season as a whim?
Posted by: Rob | July 23, 2008 at 10:30 AM
To borrow a line..."It vexes me. I'm terribly vexed."
Stults back down. Kershaw thrown to the lions. Pierre on the way back. Jones lost as a kitten. Blah, blah, blah.
Baseball ownership, general managing, and field managing are tough jobs for sure, but what is going on?
Oh well. Just sit back and watch it play out. Good Times.
Posted by: gus2327 | July 23, 2008 at 10:36 AM
Just some rumors I thought I would share.
Yankee’s interested in Lowe (Espn and msn mlb rumors)
Rays intersted in kent (msn mlb roumors)
Detroit may be close to releasing SS Rentera (espn rumors) Dodgers have show some interest in him
So we'll see if anything happens
Posted by: Gillbert | July 23, 2008 at 10:39 AM
Sounds like Pierre is really working hard to get back in there. With Mattingley now in the fold, his hitting (or patience at the plate and willingness to walk) would only get better. So now his only weakness would be his defense. Why can't the Dodgers find a way to improve his arm so that he's not such a liability out there? If I recall correctly, Tony Gwynn also started out as a weak throwing outfielder, but he worked his way up to the point where runners didn't want to test his arm. Yes, I know I'm comparing him to an HOF'er, but still...
Posted by: Artful Dodger | July 23, 2008 at 10:58 AM
Judging from the looks of him these days, Gwynn improved his throwing arm with a steady diet of pancakes. The guy looks like he could play all three outfield positions--at the same time, that is, as long as he doesn't have to move more than one step.
Here's how he looked in 1983
http://shop.mlb.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1220503
Nice 'stache, though.
I'd include a photo of him today, but the dialog box on this site isn't wide enough to show all of him. I'll say this for the HOFer--he must have an even better arm now.
Now that I think of it, why doesn't Andruw Jones take a few weeks off and talk to Gwynn about how to alter your swing to accommodate increasing girth? It couldn't hurt. I doubt anyone would suffer from talking hitting with Tony Gwynn for even five minutes.
Posted by: SaMo | July 23, 2008 at 12:05 PM
6 games since the break and not a single quality start.
Posted by: Lex | July 23, 2008 at 01:24 PM
what a sloppy game we're watching right now. Bad defense (god love the kid, but 2 poor plays by Kemp) and bad base-running (AJ, but at least he was on-base) is the difference right now as I'm watching a 5-2 game in the 4th...
Jones just hit an RBI double. Hope springs eternal...
Which is why I keep wanting to believe in this team, despite feeling like they rip my heart out and chew on it a while every other game...
SaMo, you are correct on all counts. Being the eternal optimist that I am (I think you simply have to be when you teach public school children who are barely literate), I want to believe in this management group, but every other day they seem to make decisions that force me to seriously question their intelligence.
The big one though is what they do in the next 8 days. I AM PRAYING IT IS NOTHING. If they want to trade DeWitt or any of our other bench players who are below .300 OBP (or project that way for the forseeable future), fine. Dealing lower minor leaguers, whatever. But trading away anyone we're counting on now or next year in order to make a championship run with a sub-.500 team is patently stupid.
Please, Ned, DO NOT MAKE A TRADE SIMPLY TO MAKE A TRADE.
Posted by: VA Blueblood | July 23, 2008 at 01:26 PM
wow...jones hit a big double for a rbi....turn around???
SaMo - Great points btw. Ho belongs in the lineup, he's earned it.
I just heard Ned locked up Penny for 7 more years at $11 mil per, can a Schmidt extension be far behind.
PLEASE Mr. McCourt, launch Ned before he completely ruins your parking lot investment.
**KBROS - someone in the Dodgers Front Office reads the blog, because ever since I ponted out the "wedgie picking" commercial... it hasn't aired.
Posted by: benzojones | July 23, 2008 at 01:27 PM
SAMO,
I've been ranting about these 'announcements also. I thought we would be done with it after dumping Grady. But it goes on. Starters announced and positions 'set' before day one of spring training. Penny starts, Pierre leads off, Swy needs ABs, Jones is the guy--blah blah blah. Only aftrer a disaster does change creep in slowly. Why can't we just field the best players. Now Kershaw is staying for the rest of the year. Does that mean he keeps starting no matter what. Park and Stults were doing better.
David
Posted by: DavidS | July 23, 2008 at 02:22 PM
I bet Kuroda is injured again.
David
Posted by: DavidS | July 23, 2008 at 02:23 PM
Good ole' Andrew Jones...tt must really be nice to get paid $18 million a year to be filled with nothing but EPIC FREAKING FAIL!!!
Posted by: dwallspaw | July 23, 2008 at 02:52 PM
Kershaw shines in double A and gets bombarded in the Bigs. I've heard that there is an intermediate level, something called Triple A. Too bad the Dodgers don't seem able to get Clayton a ticket to Las Vegas.
Posted by: Ed Freedman | July 24, 2008 at 03:59 AM