The Dodgers wasted another solid pitching effort by their pitching staff last night as they were shutout by left-hander Cole Hamels and the Philadelphia Phillies 2-0. Ted Lilly and Hiroshi kuroda seemed to be earmarked this year to get no run support from the Dodger bats. Kuroda went 5 1/3 innings and gave up a solo homerun to Ryan Howard.
The Dodgers sent rookie outfielder Jerry Sands down to AAA Albuquerque today in a move that came a day later than most thought it would. He has been slumping very badly of late and his average fell to .200 and his power never materialized against major league pitching. He had only hit two homeruns in over 100 at bats. His playing time was becoming more sporadic. He didn't even get in the game against lefty Hamels last night. The Dodgers called up left-handed hitting Trent Oeltjen to replace Sands on the roster. He has logged some major league service time with the Milwaukee Brewers and with the LA Dodgers last year.
I look for Sands to go down to the minors, get his stroke back (I am still not a big fan of his swing), and be one of the September call ups by the Dodgers.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
And The Rookies Shall Lead Them
Both Rubby De La Rosa and Dee Gordon got their first major league starts last night in a 6-2 Dodgers win over the Phillies.
De La Rosa had a shaky but effective outing. His stat line read 5 IP, 4 K's, 5 BB's, and only 1 Earned Run. I am hoping the uncustomary wildness can be attributed to nerves. He got the win and and it was his second in the majors. He threw 96 pitches, topping out at 98 MPH. He also walked and scored a run.
Dee Gordon singled in his first three at-bats (finishing 3 for 5), stole his first major league base, and scored a run. They batted him in the lead off position and he had the reputation of being a burner in the minors so I say let's turn him loose and see what he can do. He was batting over .300 at AAA Albuquerque with 20 Stolen Bases so he has the skills.
De La Rosa had a shaky but effective outing. His stat line read 5 IP, 4 K's, 5 BB's, and only 1 Earned Run. I am hoping the uncustomary wildness can be attributed to nerves. He got the win and and it was his second in the majors. He threw 96 pitches, topping out at 98 MPH. He also walked and scored a run.
Dee Gordon singled in his first three at-bats (finishing 3 for 5), stole his first major league base, and scored a run. They batted him in the lead off position and he had the reputation of being a burner in the minors so I say let's turn him loose and see what he can do. He was batting over .300 at AAA Albuquerque with 20 Stolen Bases so he has the skills.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Dee Gordon Gets The Call
The Los Angeles Dodgers #1 Prospect, Shortstop Dee Gordon, got the call to the major leagues yesterday in a move that kind of surprised me. It was one of several moves made by the Dodgers yesterday. Juan Uribe, Marcus Thames, and pitcher Blake Hawksworth were all activated from the Disabled List yesterday. The Dodgers basically cut infielder Juan Castro and outfielder Jay Gibbons loose and optioned out infielder Ivan DeJesus and pitcher John Ely. Castro and Gibbons could still possible end up in Albuquerque if they clear waivers. By cutting Gibbons loose that means that the Dodgers have decided to keep Jerry Sands on the major league roster. Sands has also played some First Base this season.
Gordon got into his first game last night, a 3-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, as a pinch runner and scored the Dodgers lone run. I believed that Gordon would be a September call up but I guess the Dodgers brass believed the future is now especially with Rafael Furcal ending up on the Disabled List every other week.
Gordon got into his first game last night, a 3-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, as a pinch runner and scored the Dodgers lone run. I believed that Gordon would be a September call up but I guess the Dodgers brass believed the future is now especially with Rafael Furcal ending up on the Disabled List every other week.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Billingsley Taking Matters Into His Own Hands
Chad Billingsley's pitching stat line Yesterday against the Cincinnati Reds (5 IP, 4 ER) would have ordinarily gotten him an ugly looking "L" beside his name but his stat line at the plate made up for it (2 for 3 with a homerun, a double, and a bases loaded walk and 3 RBI's).
He pitched long enough to qualify for the win and John Ely came in and didn't exactly shut the door but he didn't open the floodgates either (3 IP, 2 ER). Josh Lindblom came in and pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
Matt Kemp hit his 16th Homerun and I bet he really hates to leave Cincinnati with 3 HR's and 8 RBI's in the three games. Rod Barajas drove in a couple and Jerry Sands drove in one as well.
Taking two out of three in Cincinnati is a nice way to start the road trip. They travel to Philadelphia next and the Dodgers will not be sending out their top three starters as Kuroda, Kershaw, and Billingsley all faced the Reds. I am hoping that with John Ely pitching long relief last night it means that they are going to let Rubby De La Rosa take Garland's spot in the rotation and possibly get his first major league start against the Phillies.
He pitched long enough to qualify for the win and John Ely came in and didn't exactly shut the door but he didn't open the floodgates either (3 IP, 2 ER). Josh Lindblom came in and pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
Matt Kemp hit his 16th Homerun and I bet he really hates to leave Cincinnati with 3 HR's and 8 RBI's in the three games. Rod Barajas drove in a couple and Jerry Sands drove in one as well.
Taking two out of three in Cincinnati is a nice way to start the road trip. They travel to Philadelphia next and the Dodgers will not be sending out their top three starters as Kuroda, Kershaw, and Billingsley all faced the Reds. I am hoping that with John Ely pitching long relief last night it means that they are going to let Rubby De La Rosa take Garland's spot in the rotation and possibly get his first major league start against the Phillies.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
A Comeback Win For The Ages
The Dodgers came from five runs down in the 8th inning yesterday to tie the game against the Cincinnati Reds and nailed down the win with a four run 11th inning. The final score was 11-8. That was the first time since 1994 that the Dodgers had come back from being down five runs or more after the 7th inning and win the game.
Matt Kemp was the star as he hit his 14th and 15th homeruns of the season, his last one being a grand slam that tied it up in the top of the 8th inning, 7-7. He had six RBI's for the game on three hits. Matt Kemp has so much athletic ability but he is not a natural baseball player. His best sport in high school was basketball. I hope he is still playing with the Dodgers when he puts the athletic ability together with a natural feel for the game.
One account I read of the game made the statement that in the 11th inning the Dodgers "singles" hitters went to work and drove in the clinching runs. For the Dodgers offense to start clicking the "singles" hitters need to do this on a more consistent basis. The only player on the team that has shown any consistent power is Matt Kemp. Barajas has 7 homeruns, Ethier has 5, Loney has 3, Blake has spent almost the majority of the season on the DL, and highly touted rookie Jerry Sands power has disappeared against major league pitching.
The stat line on starter Clayton Kershaw for this game looks pretty rough (6 2/3 IP, 6 runs) but it is very misleading. The Dodgers bullpen came in and held down the fort for 4 + innings, only giving up one run in the bottom of the 11th by eventual winning pitcher Javy Guerra. That was Guerra's first major league win.
There are more Dodgers injuries to report. It might be bigger news if there were no injuries to report. Jon Garland and Rafael Furcal are headed back to the Disabled list and John Ely and Ivan DeJesus were brought back up to replace them on the roster. I don't know why the Dodgers just don't pencil Furcal on to the DL about once a month whether he's hurt or not. It would save themselves some time and aggravation. I would rather see the Dodgers start Rubby De La Rosa now and bring Ely in in middle relief out of the pen.
Matt Kemp was the star as he hit his 14th and 15th homeruns of the season, his last one being a grand slam that tied it up in the top of the 8th inning, 7-7. He had six RBI's for the game on three hits. Matt Kemp has so much athletic ability but he is not a natural baseball player. His best sport in high school was basketball. I hope he is still playing with the Dodgers when he puts the athletic ability together with a natural feel for the game.
One account I read of the game made the statement that in the 11th inning the Dodgers "singles" hitters went to work and drove in the clinching runs. For the Dodgers offense to start clicking the "singles" hitters need to do this on a more consistent basis. The only player on the team that has shown any consistent power is Matt Kemp. Barajas has 7 homeruns, Ethier has 5, Loney has 3, Blake has spent almost the majority of the season on the DL, and highly touted rookie Jerry Sands power has disappeared against major league pitching.
The stat line on starter Clayton Kershaw for this game looks pretty rough (6 2/3 IP, 6 runs) but it is very misleading. The Dodgers bullpen came in and held down the fort for 4 + innings, only giving up one run in the bottom of the 11th by eventual winning pitcher Javy Guerra. That was Guerra's first major league win.
There are more Dodgers injuries to report. It might be bigger news if there were no injuries to report. Jon Garland and Rafael Furcal are headed back to the Disabled list and John Ely and Ivan DeJesus were brought back up to replace them on the roster. I don't know why the Dodgers just don't pencil Furcal on to the DL about once a month whether he's hurt or not. It would save themselves some time and aggravation. I would rather see the Dodgers start Rubby De La Rosa now and bring Ely in in middle relief out of the pen.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
So Much For The Offensive Explosion
The offensive explosion only lasted for three games as Ubaldo Gimenez of the Colorado Rockies pitched a four-hit shutout against the Dodgers last night. Jon Garland took another loss (1-5) for the Dodgers. I do not think Garland has been pitching badly but he can't seem to catch a break. The Dodgers now embark on a ten game road trip. You hate to say this road trip only a third of the way thru their season might make or break their season but if they do poorly, it will have a huge impact.
The only news of note that came out of last nights game was the major league debut of Josh Lindblom, a right-handed reliever out of Purdue. He almost made the Dodgers coming out of spring training in 2009 and 2010 but was sent down and did very poorly in AAA last season and started out the year in AA Chattanooga this year. He gave up two hits in his inning pitched but didn't allow a run.
Vicente Padilla is due to come back Friday night and it has been widely speculated that he will be inserted back into the closer's role for the Dodgers. That might mean Lindblom will be sent back down but at least he got his debut out of the way.
The only news of note that came out of last nights game was the major league debut of Josh Lindblom, a right-handed reliever out of Purdue. He almost made the Dodgers coming out of spring training in 2009 and 2010 but was sent down and did very poorly in AAA last season and started out the year in AA Chattanooga this year. He gave up two hits in his inning pitched but didn't allow a run.
Vicente Padilla is due to come back Friday night and it has been widely speculated that he will be inserted back into the closer's role for the Dodgers. That might mean Lindblom will be sent back down but at least he got his debut out of the way.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
An Offensive Explosion
The Dodgers are finally putting some runs up on the board (23 in their past three games) and have a three-game winning streak to show for it. Matt Kemp (4 RBI's) and Casey Blake (3 RBI's) were the offensive stars last night in their 8-2 win over the Colorado Rockies. As badly as they have played this year and as many players that have been on the Disabled List, they are still only 4 1/2 games out of first place.
Ted Lilly was the winning pitcher last night and I have never been completely sold on him as a major league starting pitcher (especially one worth $11 million a year) because of his style of pitching. He is a great change of pace pitcher to throw in the middle of Kershaw and Billingsley because of their power, but for Lilly to be successful in any game, alot of factors have to come together. His location has to be on, his mechanics have to be almost perfect, and he has to be able to effectively change speeds. If one thing is off, the chances of balls sailing out of the park are pretty good. His stats are never going to be sexy with alot of strikeouts or shutouts, or even a very low ERA but the Dodgers need him to eat up alot innings this year, maybe be a few games over .500, and it will be a successful season for him.
Rubby De La Rosa pitched a couple of more shutout innings last night, dropping his ERA to 1.80 (he has only pitched 5 innings). He has looked impressive so far and I would love to see the Dodgers send a spot start his way.
Ted Lilly was the winning pitcher last night and I have never been completely sold on him as a major league starting pitcher (especially one worth $11 million a year) because of his style of pitching. He is a great change of pace pitcher to throw in the middle of Kershaw and Billingsley because of their power, but for Lilly to be successful in any game, alot of factors have to come together. His location has to be on, his mechanics have to be almost perfect, and he has to be able to effectively change speeds. If one thing is off, the chances of balls sailing out of the park are pretty good. His stats are never going to be sexy with alot of strikeouts or shutouts, or even a very low ERA but the Dodgers need him to eat up alot innings this year, maybe be a few games over .500, and it will be a successful season for him.
Rubby De La Rosa pitched a couple of more shutout innings last night, dropping his ERA to 1.80 (he has only pitched 5 innings). He has looked impressive so far and I would love to see the Dodgers send a spot start his way.
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