Dodgers Week 26 In Review: Sweet, Sweet Victory
by Eric Stephen on Oct 4, 2009 9:10 PM PDT
in Dodgers Weekly Reviews
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"Good things come to those who wait. The wait is over!"
-Charley Steiner, after the final division-clinching out Saturday night on KABC
The Dodgers struggled for most of the week, especially the offense, but as they have all year, they found a way to get the job done in the end. They ended last week with a chance to clinch the division, but didn't finish the job until late this week, in game 161. However, a pair of wins over the final weekend was more than enough to lock the Dodgers in as the top seed in the National League playoffs.
All those wins banked earlier in the season proved to be enough savings for a rainy week, helping the club withstand their worst stretch of the year. But remember, how you finish the season doesn't really matter in the playoffs, as the odometer for every team gets reset beginning Wednesday.
Dodger Batter of the Week: This award should really be vacant for the week, but we'll give it to Rafael Furcal for being the least horrible offensive player. Furcal actually wasn't bad, hitting .357/.471/.357 for the week, but it really was a putrid week for the offense.
Dodger Pitcher of the Week: Clayton Kershaw came up huge in the division clincher on Saturday, striking out the first five Rockies on his way to a 10-strikeout performance over six shutout innings. He didn't get the win in that game, but he can take solace in winning the TBLA pitcher of the week!
Week 26 Record: 2-4
15 runs scored (2.50 per game)
26 runs allowed (4.33 per game)
.268 pythagorean winning percentage
Overall Seasonal Record: 95-67 (.586)
780 runs scored (4.81 per game)
611 runs allowed (3.77 per game)
.610 pythagorean winning percentage (99-63)
A Pair of Firsts: A.J. Ellis got a chance to start at catcher on the final day of the season, and was hitless in nine career at-bats entering the game. He delivered a single in the first inning, for his first major league hit and first run batted in. For a 28-year old backup catcher, nothing is certain in his major league future, so it was great for Ellis to end his season on a high note. No matter what happens from this point forward, he has a hit in the major leagues.
Here is a breakdown of all the weekly awards won over this season's 26 weeks:
Batting: Kemp 5, Ethier 5, Blake 3, Manny 2, Hudson 2, Martin 2, Loney 2, Furcal 2, Belliard 2, Pierre 1
Pitching: Kershaw 8, Wolf 4, Broxton 2, Garland 2, Billingsley 1, Kuroda 1, Belisario 1, Haeger 1, McDonald 1, Milton 1, Padilla 1, Stults 1, Troncoso 1, Weaver 1
Transactions: There were no transactions this week. Division series rosters are due by 10am Wednesday.
Game By Game Results:
- Monday - Pirates 11, Dodgers 1
- Tuesday - Padres 3, Dodgers 1
- Wednesday - Padres 5, Dodgers 0
- Friday - Rockies 4, Dodgers 3
- Saturday - Dodgers 5, Rockies 0
- Sunday - Dodgers 5, Rockies 3
Upcoming Week: The playoffs! The Dodgers open the NLDS at home on Wednesday against the Cardinals. Game time is 6:37pm Pacific time.
Week 26 Stats
| Player | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SB/CS | BA/OBP/SLG | OPS | BABIP |
| Furcal | 14 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2/0 | .357/.471/.357 | .828 | .385 |
| Hudson | 17 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0/0 | .176/.333/.471 | .804 | .273 |
| Martin | 10 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1/0 | .100/.357/.400 | .757 | .000 |
| Ethier | 13 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0/0 | .154/.389/.231 | .620 | .200 |
| Blake | 10 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0/0 | .300/.300/.300 | .600 | .750 |
| Manny | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0/0 | .071/.235/.071 | .307 | .200 |
| Kemp | 18 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0/0 | .111/.190/.111 | .302 | .125 |
| Loney | 19 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | .105/.105/.105 | .211 | .154 |
| Belliard | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | 1.000/1.000/1.000 | 2.000 | 1.000 |
| Mientkiewicz | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | .600/.600/.600 | 1.200 | .750 |
| Hu | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0/0 | .500/.400/.750 | 1.150 | .500 |
| DeWitt | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0/0 | .333/.500/.333 | .833 | .500 |
| Loretta | 7 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/1 | .286/.286/.429 | .714 | .333 |
| Pierre | 15 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3/0 | .267/.267/.400 | .667 | .286 |
| Thome | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | .250/.250/.250 | .500 | .500 |
| Ellis | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | .200/.200/.200 | .400 | .250 |
| Castro | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | .125/.125/.125 | .250 | .143 |
| Ausmus | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | .000/.000/.000 | .000 | .000 |
| Repko | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1/0 | .000/.000/.000 | .000 | .000 |
| Pitchers | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | .143/.143/.143 | .286 | .333 |
| Totals | 179 | 15 | 36 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 21 | 7/1 | .201/.286/.274 | .559 | .271 |
| Pitcher | G | W-L | Sv | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | ERA | WHIP |
| Kershaw | 1 | 0-0 | -- | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 0.00 | 1.000 |
| Padilla | 2 | 1-0 | -- | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 1.29 | 0.714 |
| Billingsley | 1 | 0-1 | -- | 6.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 3.00 | 1.167 |
| Wolf | 1 | 0-1 | -- | 5.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3.60 | 1.800 |
| Kuroda | 1 | 0-1 | -- | 4.0 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 6.75 | 2.500 |
| Garland | 1 | 0-1 | -- | 3.1 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 10.80 | 2.400 |
| Broxton | 2 | 0-0 | -- | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0.00 | 0.500 |
| Sherrill | 2 | 0-0 | -- | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.00 | 0.000 |
| Weaver | 1 | 0-0 | -- | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0.00 | 2.000 |
| Haeger | 1 | 0-0 | -- | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 1.500 |
| Kuo | 2 | 1-0 | -- | 2.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4.50 | 1.000 |
| Troncoso | 2 | 0-0 | 1 | 2.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4.50 | 2.500 |
| Elbert | 4 | 0-0 | -- | 2.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4.50 | 2.000 |
| McDonald | 2 | 0-0 | -- | 3.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 6.00 | 1.333 |
| Mota | 3 | 0-0 | -- | 3.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 6.00 | 1.667 |
| Belisario | 3 | 0-0 | -- | 2.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 9.00 | 1.500 |
| Totals | 6 |
2-4 | 1 | 51.0 | 47 |
26 |
21 |
25 |
61 | 3.71 | 1.412 |
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Game #1
Looks like the Cardinals will be a slight favorite to win Game #1 here at DS. The early Vegas line has the Cardinals win probability at a robust 57.63%, while my simulator is currently running at 55.86%. We are going to have to likely win two games against the Carpenter/Wainwright combo to win this series. A tall order for sure.
vr, Xei
The Cards will likely have Anikel playing CF over Rasmus.
Which screws over their Outfield defense by a good margin.
They have improved but not by much
Holliday’s first game was July 24, so that’s what I used as a cutoff date.
Through July 23, the Cards were hitting .223/.304/.356 against LHP, a .660 OPS
From July 24 on, the Cards are hitting .250/.324/.374 vs LHP, a .698 OPS
by Eric Stephen on Oct 4, 2009 10:15 PM PDT up reply actions
I feel as confident about this series
as I did last year. I’ll take that as a good sign.
"Who would win: Coach Ditka versus a hurricane? The name of the hurricane is Hurricane Ditka"
by Mr. LA Sports Fan on Oct 4, 2009 9:52 PM PDT reply actions
Exhibit 876-3
on the case regarding ESPN reporters putting any coherent thought they have into print:
By Steve Berthiaume:
“The Dodgers need to have Clayton Kershaw start every postseason game. If not, they won’t win. "
Also Tim Kurkjian believes the Yankees have the best bullpen in the playoffs, and nobody has distinguished themselves enough to be a clear second.
Wait, what? Are we sure these guys actually exist and that ESPN has not perfected the 1000 monkeys in a room with 1000 typewriters?
I heard that BBTN
basically gave the NLDS to St. Louis. They said it was a lock. Because that has absolutely no chance of blowing up in their faces.
"Who would win: Coach Ditka versus a hurricane? The name of the hurricane is Hurricane Ditka"
by Mr. LA Sports Fan on Oct 4, 2009 10:01 PM PDT up reply actions
Eh, I don't really care.
Last year, ESPN.com all picked the Cubs over the Dodgers except for Eric Neal, and then in the Dodgers-Phillies series, they all picked the Dodgers over the Phillies save one, and then in the Phillies-Rays series, the majority picked the Rays over the Phillies. Nobody really knows who will win the series.
it isn't so much the predictions that bother me.
It is the constant verbal diarrhea that seems to have no basis in reality. You think the Yankees have a better bullpen? fine. prove your point with statistics other than “Mariano Rivera is lights out in the postseason.” From the same article “The Yankees have this year’s AL MVP in Mark Teixeira.” Really? Mauer hit 80 points higher, while playing catcher, higher OPS, SLG and half as many Ks. If the Yankees have an average 1B, odds are they still make the playoffs, if the Twins don’t have Mauer, no way. no way they force game 163 with the Tigers. Mauer gets my AL MVP hands down.
+ sideways 8
Mauer = AL MVP, hands down.
"Who would win: Coach Ditka versus a hurricane? The name of the hurricane is Hurricane Ditka"
by Mr. LA Sports Fan on Oct 4, 2009 10:18 PM PDT up reply actions
40 wins from the bullpen?
Those are fucking vulture wins! You don’t crown a bullpen as the greatest of all time based on that! Unbe-freakin-leavable. I would expect much more from Kurkjian.
"Who would win: Coach Ditka versus a hurricane? The name of the hurricane is Hurricane Ditka"
by Mr. LA Sports Fan on Oct 4, 2009 10:22 PM PDT up reply actions
Tim Kurkjian, I'mah gonna let you finish-
But the 1990 Reds bullpen with the Nasty Boys were the greatest bullpen of all time.
by Tripon on Oct 4, 2009 10:24 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
That was a well-placed Kanye play. Nice.
by Eric Stephen on Oct 4, 2009 10:28 PM PDT up reply actions
I just saw the clip on espn.com
You didn’t even mention Showalter giving props to the Dodgers bullpen.
Yeah. . . I was mainly ripping on Kurkjian, I did overlook Showalter but even he just spouted two names without any data. Sure he had fairly accurate opinions of Sherril and Brox, but again, only opinions without support.
Eh, his point came off well.
That Sherill and Broxton can both pitch well. That Sherill is a good weapon to have in late innings since he has experience pitching as a closer and a set up man, that he can pitch against right handers and left handers, etc. He only had 30 seconds to point out the Dodgers strengths, and it looked like was saying it off the top of the head. Not everyone can bust out FIP calculations in their head like Eric Stephen can.
If you can only have one superpower
I guess photographic memory of baseball stats is a pretty solid one to have. I probably would have picked something else though.
Playoff Bullpens... Sorted by WAR
1. Rockies 49.4
2. Red Sox 48.4
3. Dodgers 46.3
4. Yankees 41.9
5. Angels 34.8
6. Twins 32.7
7. Phillies 21.1
8. Tigers 15.2
9. Cardinals 6.6
Of course this WAR measure is over a whole season. It doesn’t really take into account a bullpen that may have recent injuries, or new players added at the trade deadline. Nonetheless, it gives you a good idea of which bullpens have been the best over the course of the season.
vr, Xei
So what you are saying is:
Get to the bullpen early, with the series. Got it.
BPro is a lot more bullish on the Cards bullpen.
Rating their top four bullpen arms the best in the Major Leagues.
Team Top 4 FRA Top 4 WXRL Top 4 Dudes
Cardinals 2.11 8.675 Franklin, McClellan, Miller, Reyes
Yankees 2.19 14.182 Rivera, Hughes, Aceves, Coke
Red Sox 2.40 10.497 Papelbon, Okajima, Ramirez, Wagner
Dodgers 2.58 13.569 Broxton, Sherrill, Troncoso, Kuo
Rockies 3.58 7.030 Street, Betancourt, Morales, Beimel
Angels 3.92 7.871 Fuentes, Oliver, Bulger, Jepsen
Phillies 6.66 2.049 Lidge, Madson, Eyre, Myers
Of course nobody but BPro uses FRA so its like black magic.
Steve Berthiaume
Already discussed a joke article he wrote last week… Everyone knows he’s a fool. Don’t let ESPN get to you, listen to Tripon, those “experts” think they have the whole post-season figured out… just look at the 2008 post-season match-ups and “expert analysts” picks.
From Shysterball.
Dodgers 5, Rockies 3: Vicente Padilla shuts down a skeleton-crew Rockies lineup in a meaningless game. And as per his tradition in meaningless season finales, Joe Torre let the players take over. He chose Brad Ausmus as manager, named Mark Loretta bench coach, Jim Thome was the hitting coach and Jeff Weaver was the bullpen coach. I suppose he could have given those responsibilities to more boring guys if he tried, but the Dodgers probably would have had to make some roster moves first. I know P.R. considerations wouldn’t let him name Manny manager for a day, but a boy can dream, can’t he? Ausmus on his future as a manager: “There are times when I think I’d like to do it, and there’s times when I think I’d like to walk away from a baseball stadium and never come back. But those are usually the days when I’m 0 for 4 with three strikeouts.” So what he’s saying is that the days he wants to walk away and never come back far outnumber the “I want to be a manager” days.
by Tripon on Oct 4, 2009 10:05 PM PDT reply actions 2 recs
we can win beat the cards
while many rely on regular season game stats
its still not a very accurate way of figuring out how teams will fare in the postseason….
its a completely different environment….and plus anything can happen in a 5 game series
just look at what they did last year…
Because when I think of Boris Diaw, I think of Beethoven and the age of Romanticism....
Man, the Phillies/Rockies series seem to get the short stick for game times.
Game 1: Wednesday 12:37 MDT
Game 2: Thursday 12:37 MDT
Game 3: Saturday 7:37 MDT
They did the exact same thing in 2007
About half the cubicles in the office had a video feed from TBS running during the game, until the network group blocked the IP address. At least they can’t block radio signals…
The NLCS times were much better, even though it involved two NL West teams.
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