The Rest Of The Season

The Dodgers are almost one-third of the way through the season and are the proud owners of a 20-27 record and are languishing in last place in the National League West, 6 games out of first. Luckily no team has decided to run away the National League West and it is not as serious as it sounds. 90 wins could conceivably win the West so that would mean the Dodgers would have to go 70-45 for the rest of the season to be in contention at the end of the season. Several of their injured players are starting to make their way back from the Disabled List and we need a few players to get hot (primarily Matt Kemp) and the Dodgers still have a legitimate chance. That chance has to begin now. The Dodgers still have questions to answer and the biggest question is whether Don Mattingly will make it to the All-Star break.

Adrian Gonzalez

It was quite obvious that Adrian Gonzalez had lost his power stroke after his 36 game stint with the Dodgers last year in which he only hit 3 Homeruns. He will never be the 30-40 Homerun hitter he was a few years ago. He, however, has not lost the ability to drive in runs. He drove in 3 of the Dodgers 5 runs in yesterdays 5-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. That gives him 33 RBI's on the season, more than the total of Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp combined. Ted Lilly pitched a solid 5 1/3 innings giving up one earned run and Ronald Belisario promptly came in and gave up the tying run. Paco Rodriguez got the win in relief (1-2) when Mark Ellis drove in what proved to be the winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Kenley Jansen and Brandon League came in and finished it off for the Dodgers, with League earning his 10th save.

Don Mattingly Makes A Managerial Decision

For the first time since Don Mattingly has been the Manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, he decided to act like a manager. He decided after the second game of the Milwaukee Brewers series that outfielder Andre Ethier was not "competing" the way he would like so he benched him for the final game of the series. It turned out to be a 9-2 Dodgers win in which Ethier replacement Scott Van Slyke went 2 for 4 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI's. The benching of Ethier may be a decision that was long overdue and dates back to the end of last season. I believe the Ethier era in Los Angeles will probably be over by the All-Star break and the trading deadline at the latest. I am not saying that Scott Van Slyke is the short or long term answer in Rightfield for the Dodgers but I do believe that Ethier has worn out his welcome in Los Angeles. The best case scenario would be that this benching serves as a wakeup call for Ethier and the worst case scenario is that the Dodgers can pick up a couple of prospects for him at the trading deadline.

Spahn And Sain

When Warren Spahn and Johnny Spain were a great pitching tandem for the Milwaukee Braves, the fans had a saying "Spahn and Sain and pray for rain" because the rest of the pitching staff was not that good. The 2013 Los Angeles Dodgers should develop their own slogan. Maybe it can go something like "Kershaw and Ryu and pray for the flu" or maybe "we need to be ahead by ten before we can go to the bullpen." The bullpen lost every game in the sweep by the Atlanta Braves. They wasted good performances by Ryu, Matt Magill, and Chris Capuano. Of course the offense did their part by not giving them any run support. Clayton Kershaw threw a complete game three hitter in the 3-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers last night, striking out 11. I think Manager Don Mattingly was afraid to go to the bullpen and Kershaw got to finish it off himself. Matt Kemp hit his second homerun of the season and Andre Ethier also went yard in support of Kershaw's pitching performance. Clayton Kershaw is now 5-2 and lowered his ERA to 1.35.

Zach Greinke Returns

Zach Greinke made his triumphant return from the Disabled List in the Dodgers 3-1 win over the Washington Nationals the other night. He pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up one earned run, and earning the win. The Dodgers used 5 relievers to finish it off with Brandon League earning his 9th Save of the year. Greinke even helped his own cause with an RBI single and on this Dodgers team, the pitchers have to be able to hit with runners on base and in scoring position. Greinke only threw 83 pitchesa but the coaching staff probably has him on a tight pitch count for the first couple of games back until his arm gets stretched back out.

Devaluing The Won-Loss Record

I had read a few years ago where there was a big push by baseball historians and statisticians to do away with the won-loss record as a statistic. Wins and losses have always been how a pitcher has been measures. That, ERA, and later on Saves. If there was ever a pitcher that was a poster child for doing away with wins and losses as a statistic, it would be Clayton Kershaw. After last nights 2-0 win over the Washington Nationals, Kershaw is sporting a 4-2 record with a miniscule 1.40 ERA. He is entering Bob Gibson territory with that ERA. With any run support at all, Kershaw could easily be 7-1 or 8-0. Andre Ethier hit a two run single in the bottom of the third that plated Matt Kemp and Kershaw and that was all the run support he would need. He struck out 11 and walked 1 but Kenley Jansen had to come in with 2 outs in the ninth to get the final out and his second Save. It looks like it is going to be another bullpen by committee year. I was never completely sold on the idea of Brandon League as the closer but luckily the Dodgers have enough live arms in the bullpen to make it work.

Two Wins In A Row Is A Winning Streak

The Los Angeles Dodgers won their second game in a row last night over the Miami Marlins 5-3. Chris Capuano went 6 1/3 innings and only gave up one run, striking out 7 and walking 1, for his first victory on the season (1-2). Scott Van Slyke, just recently called up from AAA Albuquerque and getting a spot start at First Base for Adrian Gonzalez, wielded the big bat for the Dodgers with 2 hits including his first home run of the year and 2 RBI's and Dee Gordon stole his 4th base on the season. About half of the Dodgers regulars got the day off to recharge their batteries. Scott Van Slyke was tearing up the Pacific Coast League to the tune of a .397 Batting Average, 9 Homeruns and 30 RBI's, when he was recalled. The Dodgers need some type of offensive infusion and maybe he will be the one to provide it. His bat and Dee Gordon's speed.

All Things End Eventually

All thins come to an end, both good and bad. Last night the Dodgers season long eight game losing streak came to and end with a 7-1 victory over the Miami Marlins. No one was more happy to see that skid end than Dodgers skipper Don Mattingly. The heat is still on in spite of the support given by lifetime Dodger Tommy LaSorda in the media for Mattingly but winning solves everything. The Dodgers got great pitching from Hyun-Jin Ryu (6 2/3 Innings pitched, one earned run). He improved to 4-2 on the season. The Dodgers also got some timely hitting from season long non-contributors Skip Schumaker (3 RBI's), Dee Gordon (his first homerun on the season), and Juan Uribe (2 RBI's). The Dodgers need more production from the bottom of the lineup like that on a consistent basis. Starting pitcher Zach Greinke is about ready to come off the Disabled List possibly as soon as Wednesday. He is making a few rehab starts at Rancho Cucomonga first, and that means that Matt Magill will probably be headed back to the minors for a little more work.

Matt Magill

Matt Magill, the Los Angeles Dodgers 9th ranked prospect according to Baseball America going into the season, gets his third start of the season tonight against the Miami Marlins. He was brought up tue to the Dodgers numerous injuries to the pitching staff and was probably not ready to make his major league debut until later on in the season. Due to the Dodgers injuries, however, he gets some on the job training in the National League. His first two starts of the season have left him with no decisions and only 8 innings pitched. He has given up 7 earned runs, sports a 7.71 ERA with 9 strikeouts and he has battled control issues with 6 walks. He has shown major league ready pitches but as in real estate a lot of it is location, location, location. You have to be able to paint the black with all of your pitches and be able to command all of your pitches at any point in the count.

Another Game, Another Loss

The Dodgers lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks last night 5-3 as closer Brandon League gave up a two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning to lose it. As the old baseball joke goes, a closer is supposed to put out the fires, not pour gasoline on them. Josh Beckett had a decent start, good enough to get a win anyway, but the Dodgers cannot seem to get over the hump. That drops them to 13-19 on the season. Nick Punto is the only one that brought a productive bat with him to the game as he doubled and hit his first homer on the season. The Dodgers left 15 men on base led by Catcher Ramon Hernandez and his .045 Batting Average with 4. That Aaron Harang trade is looking better and better all the time. There comes a point and time when it is time to cut your losses and bring Tim Federeowicz up and let him get some meaningful playing time at the major league level.

How Long Is The Leash On Don Mattingly?

With the Dodgers off to such a slow start (13-18), the offense is struggling (28th in runs), the injuries are piling up (8 currently on the disable list), and the pitching is struggling (4.25 ERA and 21st in the league), I have to start wondering when the Dodgers new ownership group is going to pull the trigger on the firing of Don Mattingly. A slow start, the Dodgers massive payroll, and great expectations cannot be good signs for the future of Don Mattingly as the Dodgers skipper. Yhey are 5 1/2 games out of first but have not fared well (2-7) against the three teams ahead of them in the National League West. They are not playing fundamental baseball and that falls on the manager. Tim Wallach is waiting in the wings.

The Disabled List Gets Longer

The Dodgers placed Second Baseman Mark Ellis on the Disabled List making him the 9th Dodger to hit the Disabled List in the season's first 30 games. To put it in monetary terms, there are $60 million worth of Dodgers drawing paychecks and rehabbing. Six of the nine are pitchers (Chris Capuano just came off the DL) and three of those were slated to be in the starting rotation- Zack Greinke, Chad Billingsley and Ted Lilly. We quickly discovered after two starts that Zach Greinke was not signed to be a Linebacker or an MMA fighter, Everyone in Dodger Land with the exception of maybe Chad Billingsley and the Dodger brass, knew that his elbow was going to fall apart after a few starts, and I think Ted Lilly has spent more time with the Dodgers on the Disabled List than he has on the field. Stephen Fife was called up from Albuquerque to replace Chad Billingsley and went on the Disabled List after one start. If I was a starting pitcher at Albuquerque and the Dodgers tried calling me up, I believe I would tell them "Hell no! I am staying here. Going to Los Angeles would not be good for my health." Shortstop Hanley Ramirez did make it on to the field for four games before he tore his hamstring. Throw in Scott Elbert and Shawn Tolleson and the Disabled List roster is set.