Results tagged ‘ Nomar Garciaparra ’
No Kuo?
Greg Maddux got his 355th career win in the Dodgers 2-1 victory tonight over the Giants tonight, but the bigger story for Dodgers fans was the no-show by Hong-Chih Kuo. Kuo warmed up briefly and then disappeared, which is a bad sign for his chances of making the playoffs. Tonight was supposed to be a test for his tricep problem, and apparently things didn’t go well. This means the Dodgers will probably go into the post season without their main lefty setup guy. On the season, Kuo was 5-3 with a 2.14 ERA over 80 innings. Those are numbers you hate to be missing when you need them most.
On the positive side, Rafael Furcal is looking better each time out, and I would be shocked if he didn’t start at short during the playoffs. He went 2-for-4 tonight. Jeff Kent extended his hitting streak to 4 games since coming back, and apparently he really wants to play in the post-season because the arguement he is making in his favor is strong.
Kudos to Blake DeWitt for carrying the team offensively tonight, not exactly what you would expect to see from a rookie 2nd/3rd baseman hitting .265, especially when your starting left fielder is Manny Ramirez. DeWitt went 3-for-4 with a home run, 2 RBIs, and a walk.
Pablo Ozuna got some playing time in the outfield tonight. It looks like Joe Torre is testing him in the outfield in an attempt to circumvent using 5 outfielders in the playoffs. This, along with Ozuna’s usefulness as a pinch runner and infield defensive replacement, looks like a move to free up a spot for Jeff Kent. If this is the case, the bench is going to be pretty stacked with veteran pinch hitters. You’ve got Jeff Kent 21st on the all-time doubles list, also with 377 career homers and 1518 career RBIs, Nomar Garciaparra .314 lifetime batting average, and Juan Pierre active stolen base leader. Not bad. Of course none of that could have occured had the “backup guys” not stepped up when the starters got injured, or in Pierre’s case lost his platoon spot when they picked up Manny. Pierre was platooning in left with Andre Ethier before Ethier won the starting job in right by hitting .301 with 20 homers. Casey Blake was acquired to fill in for an injured Garciaparra at 3rd. Blake is hitting .252 with 10 homers in 206 at-bats. And our favorite, Blake DeWitt took over at 2nd, despite being a natural 3rd baseman, and had a great rookie year, hitting .266 with 52 RBIs in 364 at-bats.
And last but not least, Takashi Saito looks like a lock for the playoff closing position as he picked up his first save since coming off the DL by retiring the side in order in the 9th.
2008 NL West Champs!
Arizona got creamed by the Cards 12-3, which means the Dodgers won the division before their game tonight even started. Accordingly, Joe Torre went right to work, utilizing the last games of the season to prepare for the playoffs. Jeff Kent and Rafael Furcal both started the game, played 3 innings and got a couple of at-bats a piece.
Furcal is progressing. His first game back, his swing looked a little slow and he struck out. Although he didn’t get a hit tonight, he did come close, and he got the bat on the ball both times without any problems. He hasn’t driven a ball yet, but he has come very close to having two balls drop in for hits. There were no problems with fielding, but he wasn’t put in any tough defensive positions either. Hopefully his back and his hamstring hold up after the start, and he’ll continue to get playing time during the up coming series with the Giants.
Kent is 2-for-3 since coming back from knee surgery. I don’t like Jeff Kent, but the guy can hit. In three at-bats he has shown himself to be the best pinch hitting prospect for the post season, with the possible exceptions of Garciaparra and Pierre. He will need a pinch runner, so it is somewhat questionable whether or not the extra baggage with have any effect. However, for those that see him as a detriment to the post season squad, I would just remind them of a certain famous home run by a quite hobbled Kirk Gibson in ’88, and look where that went.
The guys on the Dodgers deserved this win. I think a lot of the guys who start now were highly underappreciated in the last couple seasons because they were rookies. This is their team now, and their victory. Congratulations guys, here’s to the team sticking together, and many more victory celebrations to come. The Dodgers have some good vets, and a lot of young talent. It’s an exciting combination.
My New Favorite Manager
I blame Joe Torre for a lot of things, but I also give him credit when it’s due. The Dodgers won tonight 10-1 against the Padres thanks to a 6-run first produced by the newly “shaken” lineup. Strange that this lineup is suspiciously similar to a proposed lineup published just 2 days ago on this very blog.
Matt Kemp is not an ideal lead off hitter, his on-base percentage is too low. However, the Dodgers really have no one else that fits the definition of a lead off except for Juan Pierre, and he’s riding the bench. I do like Russell Martin in the 2nd spot. He chases the occasional pitch in the dirt, but other than that he’s a solid contact hitter, and he walks a lot. The two combined went 4-for-7 with 3 walks, which creates plenty of scoring opportunities. Manny Ramirez backed up by Andre Ethier worked as both were able to swing fairly freely. With a little more luck the game would have been a circus blowout as the duo fell a combined 25 feet short of 3 home runs. I still prefer Manny in the 4 spot, and think James Loney is capable enough of getting on base to warrant inserting him in the #3 ahead of Manny. When you’re scoring 10 runs in a game, that’s a minor detail, so I won’t complain. Besides, Nomar Garciaparra hit a 3-run homer the way Joe Torre had things set up, so maybe that arrangement has just as many positives.
I also applaud Joe Torre for using that lead to enable Chad Billingsley to stay in the game in spite of his struggles. He had a hard time, giving up at least one hit every inning, and getting into trouble a couple of times. However, it was a great start for Billingsley. And I don’t say that because he only gave up 1 run in 6 innings and got his 16th win. I say that because Billingsley went in without his best game, battled, and still won decisively, and those are the trademarks of an ace, which is exactly what he’s shaping up to be.
Two days removed from that less-than-encouraging series against the Giants, and the landscape looks much brighter for the Dodgers. A magic number of 3 with 5 games to play sounds alot better than 5 with six to play. If their magic number is 1 going into San Francisco, I have little doubt they’ll win the pennant, whereas 2 days ago I was pretty worried about their prospects. However, just to reinterate, for absolute emphasis… it would be most helpful if they Dodgers were to clinch before going to San Francisco.
Im-ploooooooooooooooooooooosion
Lots to talk about tonight.
No-more No-mar. You were once great, but I hail the inevitable end to the Dodger’s case of $9 million-a-year-utility-infielderitis. Combine this salary with Brad Penny’s and you pay for Manny Ramirez’s salary, so it better happen.
Tonight Joe Torre showed no evidence of his sometimes-questionable pitching changes. NOT! Scott Elbert may eventually be a great pitcher, but can we end the experiment during the pennant race? Why do you pull a guy with 3 strikeouts in 1.2 innings so you can pitch a rookie that does nothing but get shelled? I’ve seen this guy in one game where he didn’t get rocked. You can expect only so much from a rookie, great, I don’t expect much from Scott Elbert. Elbert is a lefty, and Joe pulled Scott Proctor, who is right handed, because the next batter up was a lefty. I understand the reasoning for not wanting a right-hander out there, but man, take into consideration who you’re putting in. This is like giving Andruw Jones 200 at-bats during the season despite the fact that he NEVER improved. It’s like Joe doesn’t know when to give up on a guy. There are only 10 games left in the season, and Arizona is only 3 1/2 games back. For god’s sake, give up on this guy already.
So this 15-8 loss to the Pirates is a bad omen for more than obvious reasons. I give the guys credit for continuing to fight on offense during the last two innings. The errors in the 7th were tough to swallow, however. In a one inning implosion, the Dodgers went from looking like a playoff-bound team, to a late night showing of The Bad News Bears on TBS. These were fundamental mistakes.
Angel Berroa, despite being under a looper to left, lets Manny come streaking in from left to blow it with one of his stupid basket catches. You’re not even allowed to get away with those in little league without getting yelled at by the coach. The guy can hit like no one’s business, but he isn’t taking fielding real seriously, so why would you ever DREAM of deferring to him on a fly ball?
James Loney got charged with an error on his throw to first, covered by Ramon Troncoso. If you ask me, it was Troncoso’s error. The throw by Loney wasn’t the best in the world, but it was playable. It was actually a really bad throw by Loney, especially since he had plenty of time to make it. However, Troncoso closed his glove before the ball got to him, and it ricocheted off. Pretty basic stuff, close your glove AFTER the ball is in it.
The bottom of the 7th was a real disaster and the Dodgers were their own worst enemy for that half inning. Pittsburgh is awful, and if a half inning against them can wipe the Dodgers out, I would hate to see what happens against the Cubs.
There were bright spots during the game. Matt Kemp and Russell Martin both hit well, and they’ve struggling lately. Hopefully that will carry into the playoffs, assuming they make it. We got to see James McDonald for the first time, and it was quite impressive. I can see why he needs more time in the minors because his location was a little spotty, but the kid has some scary stuff. He’s got a solid 93 mph heater, and a curve so wicked that the ump actually checked the ball for scuff marks. What impressed me more though was his spooky change-up thing-pitch. First off, his change was in the low 70′s. You go from 93 to 73 and you’re going to make quite a few hitters look very foolish. It reminded me of Mark Eichhorn, except his fastball was only about 85mph. On top of that, MacDonald’s change appeared to dance around slightly, almost like a knuckleball. I’m not sure if it was real, or just an illusion, but if I’m being fooled on tv, the hitter is probably being fooled as well. Regardless, he pitched an inning with 2 strikeouts. After a few somewhat wild fastballs and a lucky broken bat pop-up to the first batter, he seemed to reign things in a little. The two guys that struck out looked pretty dumbfounded.
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