McDonald Deserves a Break Today
by Eric Stephen on Mar 26, 2009 6:00 AM PDT
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Dodgers (13-14) @ Rockies (10-15), 1:05pm
The Dodgers' 5th starter battle has devolved into a something resembling the cast of characters from Mos Eisley, a most "wretched hive of scum and villainy." Take this with a grain of salt, but here's a rundown of the spring performances of the candidates for the final rotation slot:
| Pitcher | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | K | ERA | FIP |
| Estes | 10.2 | 19 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8.44 | 5.83 |
| McDonald | 12.1 | 13 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 5.84 | 5.71 |
| Milton | 14.2 | 24 | 15 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 4.91 | 6.00 |
| Stults | 8.1 | 15 | 13 | 12 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 12.96 | 8.48 |
| Vargas | 15.1 | 25 | 14 | 14 | 6 | 5 | 15 | 8.22 | 7.50 |
Ugh. I didn't include Jason Scmidt since (a) he only recently started pitching in "A" games, and (b) he is already out of contention for the job, at least to start the season. Look at these candidates:
- Shawn Estes has been banished to the bullpen, if not his release/retirement
- Eric Stults needed "a strong outing to stay alive in the fifth-starter competition," and didn't deliver today
- Claudio Vargas and his major league contract might be moved to the bullpen
- Eric Milton has not pitched in the big leagues since 2007, and in his last 370.2 IP, he has a 5.83 ERA (a 77 ERA+) and has given up 1.77 HR/9
That leaves James McDonald, the Dodgers' #2 rated prospect by Baseball America, yet even McDonald had been shaky this spring. That is, until his last outing, when he pitched three hitless innings against Cleveland on Saturday.
Things were so bad for the Dodgers that they promoted 21-year old Josh Lindblom -- the #4 prospect -- to big league camp last week. Lindblom has made the most of his opportunity, allowing only two runs in seven innings, walking one and striking out six. As great as it would be for Lindblom to claim a spot in the rotation, his time will probably come a few months down the road. Ken Gurnick tells us:
The likely scenario for Lindblom is to copy Clayton Kershaw's progression of last year -- last week's spring promotion from Minor League camp, impressive exhibition outings, an April assignment at Double-A and graduation to the big leagues sooner rather than later to take over for an injured or underperforming veteran.
Which means it's time for James McDonald to stake his claim for a rotation spot. He can go a long way toward that goal by performing well in his start today in Tucson against the Rockies.
Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reported that aside from Matt Kemp returning from contact lens issues, Manny and most of the regulars won't make the trip with the Dodgers today.
Lyle Spencer of MLB.com reports that Jorge De La Rosa will start for the Rockies, and will be followed by a plethora of pitchers: Huston Street, Ryan Speier, Josh Fogg, and Juan Morillo.
Be sure to get your votes in for the Sweet 16 round of the 2009 Dodger prediction bracket. Voting for this round runs through Friday afternoon.
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Milton is impressive
in that he has given up 24 hits in only 15 innings and yet has an ERA under 5.00. That is hard to do when you also give up three home runs.
dodger pitching
seems likes like decades ago when once the dodgers had the perennial “problem” of too many starting pitchers in camp …
at yet they still somehow ended the season with a two or three on the DL come September!
ala, Nomo, Ishii and Penny et al ….
we can only wonder what 2009 has in store for such a thin and underwhelming group as this batch of hopefuls.
If McDonald pitches well again today...
… do you think he gets announced as the Dodgers #5 starter shortly thereafter?
Too bad I have a mandatory team meeting.
Otherwise I would have requested the day off to see the Dodgers play at Corbett Field.
No worries, though, as I have Tueday off and will be at Tucson Electric Park as they play the Diamondbacks.
Making Eric Do the Hard Work so I don't have to
When is the first day the Dodgers ‘need’ a fifth starter?
first week
since they added a 4th game in the series against the padres, they will need a 5th starter right off the bat
April 10
Before the Dodgers filled in their April 7 off day, the first date they would have needed a 5th starter would have been April 25. Oh well.
by Eric Stephen on Mar 26, 2009 12:12 PM PDT up reply actions
There’s too many articles. I can’t even keep up anymore. What happened to the ol’ articles every couple days. Let’s bring that back.
Dodger Fever: Catch it every summer; head to the ER every October.
by Tango and Cash on Mar 26, 2009 10:07 AM PDT reply actions
It can't be understated
how well Kershaw is pitching in the spring. Just solidifies my belief that he’s in store for a monster, breakout season. Slotted forth in the rotation, he’ll bring #1-2 production.
Billy Packer
Watching Outside the Lines right now, and they are discussing the 1979 NCAA “Magic vs. Bird” final and its impact on basketball.
Billy Packer, a curmudgeon who has not been missed this tournament, keeps downplaying the significance of the game, saying that their pro careers led to revisionist history. When asked how he could downplay the game when it was watched by a quarter of America, Packer responded as only he can, “I don’t believe in ratings.”
re:
It was the first time I paid any attention to March Madness if UCLA was not involved. He’s the one doing revisionist history, it was all anyone was talking about in College. Then NC State went on the crazy Valvano run and March Madness has been my favorite event ever since.
by meercatjohn on Mar 26, 2009 12:32 PM PDT up reply actions
Lineups
I was out this morning but here is the lineup (per Ken Gurnick, who has been on fire getting this out early):
Paul RF
Ausmus C
Loney 1B
Kemp CF
DeWitt 3B
Repko LF
Hu SS
Castro 2B
McDonald P
re:
Ausmus the lone non home grown with Castro playing the prodigal son.
by meercatjohn on Mar 26, 2009 12:59 PM PDT up reply actions
Will my Billingsley jersey be worn in vain?
With Billingsley held out from testing the groin today, his status for Sunday is in doubt. So I probably won’t see him pitch. Boo.
Oh well, just be healthy for the season. That’s way better than me watching him in person.
I don't care where the Angels claim they are from
but I’m not a fan of seeing the Angels/Indians on MLB Network and the linescore shows Los Angeles and Cleveland.
Just started
struck out Fowler
walked Seth Smith (5 pitches)
walked Helton (4 pitches)
Jeff Baker up
by Eric Stephen on Mar 26, 2009 1:27 PM PDT up reply actions
Baker down
2-2 fastball cut down Baker. Strike 2 was a called curveball.
by Eric Stephen on Mar 26, 2009 1:29 PM PDT up reply actions
Steiner mentioned
he thought J-Mac was overthrowing to Smith & Helton
ahead 0-2 on Ian Stewart
by Eric Stephen on Mar 26, 2009 1:30 PM PDT up reply actions
HBP
ball barely grazed Stewart’s jersey.
Tulo up with bases juiced, 2 outs.
by Eric Stephen on Mar 26, 2009 1:30 PM PDT up reply actions
Sweet!
Called strike 3 on another curve…inning over.
by Eric Stephen on Mar 26, 2009 1:32 PM PDT up reply actions
He's no Devaris
but McDonald is certainly thin enough to handle tightrope walking.
by Eric Stephen on Mar 26, 2009 1:34 PM PDT up reply actions
re:
Looking at his frame it is hard to picture him as an outfielder. I wonder if McDonald can run because he couldn’t have had much power.
Boom Boom Betemit having a great spring
Betemit leads the White Sox with six home runs this spring. His .341 batting average is second among Sox with 40+ at-bats, and his .408 OBP ranks fourth. Unfortunately for him, Josh Fields has also been dominant this spring and ran away with the third base job early. Betemit should be an uber-utility guy this season, with most of his time spent at the corner infield spots.
Nice
I have no real ill will toward Derek
by Eric Stephen on Mar 26, 2009 1:43 PM PDT up reply actions
A tad wild
McDizzle started 3-0 to Fowler.
Rebounded with a strike, followed by 4 foul balls. the last one was pretty deep to LF but out of play. Long PA.
Inning over
Fowler deeply flew out to LF. McD settling down a bit.
by Eric Stephen on Mar 26, 2009 1:48 PM PDT up reply actions
Not sure about the pitch count
but it has to be around 40-45 through two.
The two walks were a total of 9 pitches, and the 2nd Fowler AB was 9 pitches. The sacrifice was on pitch 1. Factor in the 3 K and McDonald is probably at 40 or so.
Good enough
to declare McDonald the WINNER of the 5th starter “competition.” Everyone else was simply horrible.
Agreed
Especially since the only stats that probably matter for Torre/Ned WRT to the 5th starter spot is ERA, and that’s flawless today.
by Michael White on Mar 26, 2009 1:53 PM PDT up reply actions
Just for fun
McDonald is also leading in FIP. :)
Up to the minute:
McDonald 5.57
Estes 5.83
Milton 6.00
Vargas 7.50
Stults 8.48
by Eric Stephen on Mar 26, 2009 1:54 PM PDT up reply actions
This is a pretty far fetched
But will the Dodgers skip Kershaw’s start on April 15 (Jackie Robinson Night) to let McD start?
Well
J-Mac would be on schedule, so Kershaw would only have to be skipped a day. Might be good for keeping his innings down. :)
by Eric Stephen on Mar 26, 2009 1:58 PM PDT up reply actions
I'll try to keep a pitch count from now on
Seth Smith, leading off the 3rd: 4 pitch AB, 1-3 ground out.
Damn
1st pitch pop foul to RF but crazy wind took it out of X-Man’s reach. 0-1 to Jeff Baker instead of 2 outs.
The wind IS nasty!
The palm trees swaying outside the office appear about ready to snap in two. I can only imagine what it is doing to the balls over at Corbett.
It hasn’t been this windy in Tucson the last few weeks.
Until now
James Loney fly ball wind-aided single to CF…I mean left center.
by Eric Stephen on Mar 26, 2009 2:05 PM PDT up reply actions
At least he hasn't hurt anyone
…yet.
I will probably blow out my ACL just being near Repko this weekend.
by Eric Stephen on Mar 26, 2009 2:11 PM PDT up reply actions
Repko groundout to 3B
right after Monday was extolling the virtues of grounding out to the right side, and exchanging 2 outs for 2 runs.
Hu up 2nd & 3rd, 1 out.
first, Iannetta dropped a foul-tip 3rd strike
But a few pitches later Hu grounded to Helton, who threw home to get Kemp
by Eric Stephen on Mar 26, 2009 2:17 PM PDT up reply actions
Castro again. Ugh
RBI base hit to score DeWitt…following Hu’s force out to 1B (Kemp cut down at home by Helton).
If the Dodgers only carry 4 OF
Paul should see some time in LA this year. If Manny or anyone needs to be DL’d (knock on wood) they pretty much half to call Paul up.
by Eric Stephen on Mar 26, 2009 2:26 PM PDT up reply actions
I hope
we have a similar controversy regarding Mientkiewicz and the 2009 championship final out baseball.
by Eric Stephen on Mar 26, 2009 2:27 PM PDT up reply actions
Elbert in
leadoff walk to Stewart.
C’mon, Scott! There’s a spot waiting for you in the pen. Claim it!
The one positive
from the same story, Vargas has all but officially been eliminated from the 5th starter competition.
by Eric Stephen on Mar 26, 2009 2:37 PM PDT up reply actions
Liking his D
easy groundout by De La Rosa followed that so Elbert got out of it.
by Eric Stephen on Mar 26, 2009 2:35 PM PDT up reply actions
One giant caveat
it is still spring training. For instance, Sidney Ponson threw 5 scoreless innings for the Royals today.
I'm having a hard time
thinking they will let Elbert waste his time on the major league roster as the 2nd lefty but do we have any other options? As Stults pitches is way out of contention for the rotation does he have a chance to pitch out of the bullpen?
Hopefully
They view Elbert as a starter and send him down. Then keep Stults as a mopup man.
by Eric Stephen on Mar 26, 2009 2:41 PM PDT up reply actions
Perhaps no LH?
They might just keep all righties in the pen besides Kuo of course.
by Eric Stephen on Mar 26, 2009 2:43 PM PDT up reply actions
re:
So does that mean that Estes might a real candidate?
http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2009/3/25/809604/shawn-estes-and-the-dodger
Milton?
I really wish we had signed D Reyes or Beimel. Maybe someone will get release we can use.
3 runs
great play by DeWitt, snagging the would be double and getting an out. Rockies are tattooing the ball off Milton.
by Eric Stephen on Mar 26, 2009 2:55 PM PDT up reply actions
Next year
when Milton and Vargas are looking to make a team in spring training I suggest they sign with a team who trains in Florida. Do agents ever think of these things?
at least...
Repko is out so he won’t injure Kemp.
by Eric Stephen on Mar 26, 2009 2:58 PM PDT up reply actions
Nap time
I’m going to sleep now that J-Mac and Elbert are done. I’m leaving at 2am tomorrow (11 hours from now) to drive to AZ.
Milton getting TORCHED again means...
Kuroda
Wolf
Billingsley
Kershaw
McDonald
is our starting 5. It’s like a dream come true.
re:
I hope what you wished for works out. This might be the youngest rotation the Dodgers have had in recent memory.
So just doing some rough math
Age of starting rotation:
2008 – 167
2007 – 161
2006 – 159
2005 – 152
2009
Kuroda – 34, Billingsley – 24, Kershaw – 21, Wolf – 32, McDonald – 24 = 135
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