Dodgers Look To Return The Favor To Cardinals
by Eric Stephen on Aug 17, 2009 3:55 PM PDT
in Dodgers Game Previews
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PrintCharlie Haeger makes his Dodger debut tonight, starting the opener of the three-game series with St. Louis. The Cardinals won three of four games a few weeks ago at home, but now come to Dodger Stadium for the first time this season in what is looking more and more like an NLDS preview.
This will be Haeger's second major league start, and first since his major league debut on May 10, 2006. In 34 major league innings, spread over the last three seasons with the White Sox and Padres, Haeger has given up 37 hits, five home runs, and 26 walks. Yet I am excited for tonight's start, because Haeger throws a knuckleball. The baseball world needs knuckleballers, so I will root for Haeger to succeed more than most. With Triple A Albuquerque this season, Haeger was 11-6 with a 3.55 ERA in 22 starts.
The last time a knuckleball pitcher started a game for the Dodgers, Dennis Springer gave up home run number 73 to Barry Bonds on the last day of the 2001 season in San Francisco.
Brad Ausmus gets to don the oversized catcher's mitt for tonight's game. The lineup, per the Dodgers:
Per the Dodger games notes, Rafael Furcal has the highest batting average against the Cardinals (.360) of anyone in baseball (with a minimum of 150 plate appearances).
Starting for St. Louis will be the amazing Chris Carpenter, who is healthy again and dominating. Carpenter is riding a seven-game winning streak, during which he has posted a 2.10 ERA while averaging 7.5 innings per start. Lest you think this is only a recent hot streak, Carpenter had a 2.42 ERA on the season before his current winning streak began. Since joining the Cardinals in 2004, Carpenter's 145 ERA+ trails only Johan Santana (155) among all MLB pitchers.
Speaking of amazing, here is what Matt Holliday has done in his first 21 games as a Cardinal: .459/.490/.776, 10 doubles, five home runs, 17 runs scored, and 22 RBI. The Cards are 15-6 with Holliday in the fold.
Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes that Cardinals' rookie centerfielder Colby Rasmus is enjoying a special season:
Rasmus is the first Cardinals rookie since 1955 to have two walk-off home runs in the same season. The last to do it was Bill Virdon, who won the rookie year that season with a .281 average, 17 home runs and 68 RBIs.
Get your guesses in for "Just A Bit Outside" here.
Game Time: 7:10pm
TV: Prime Ticket, ESPN
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Same guy who criticized Kiffin after the first game last year
He probably deserved it.
by Brendan Scolari on Aug 17, 2009 6:35 PM PDT up reply actions
or maybe improper blocking technique
“if you do this, it will be a penalty for hands to the face and/or facemask”
learn by doing right? :)
by bucknellbruin on Aug 17, 2009 4:20 PM PDT up reply actions
i'll be there to see the knuckleball live, woohoo, hopefully he doest get pounded...
William Doolittle at your service, a.k.a. will do.
was my Carnac the magnificent joke so bad it had to be removed : (...i thought people loved johnny carson lol
William Doolittle at your service, a.k.a. will do.
No, my bad
I removed my post because of a mistake in grammar without realizing you had replied to it, thus you also were removed.
I don't envy Ausmus tonight
How many passed balls will he rack up?
"Andre Dawson has a bruised knee and is listed as day-to-day.... Aren't we all?"
by Mr. LA Sports Fan on Aug 17, 2009 4:29 PM PDT reply actions
If Pujols / Holliday see anything other then knuckleballs or totally unhittable balls I will be bummed.
Exactly
which is why I don’t want him throwing one. There is a reason he became a knuckleball pitcher.
This got buried yesterday
How realistic is Ethier hitting 40 HRs this year? I think falls ONLY 5-6 short, which is pretty amazing for what scouts called a reserve OF at one time.
Depends on what kind of streak he's on over the last six weeks
He could end the year with the same he has now, or come close to 40 like you say. He’s so streaky you can’t just extrapolate the numbers.
He needs 16 HR to reach 40, and the team only has 44 games left. He might get close, but 40 would require an amazing run.
Either’s best 44-game stretch produced 14 homers, from June 1 to July 22.
by Eric Stephen on Aug 17, 2009 4:59 PM PDT up reply actions
I doubt it. He will still be subject to comparable players. He’ll probably end up somewhere in the $5 to $5.5m range.
by Eric Stephen on Aug 17, 2009 5:02 PM PDT up reply actions
in terms of the scouts, definitely another classic exhibit
of the fact that Billy Beane may know pitchers better than anyone but doesn’t know bats at all
by stillnotah8er on Aug 17, 2009 5:01 PM PDT up reply actions
MLBTR is dull
Nothing but draft coverage
"Andre Dawson has a bruised knee and is listed as day-to-day.... Aren't we all?"
by Mr. LA Sports Fan on Aug 17, 2009 5:20 PM PDT reply actions
way off topic
but Liriano just helped the Rangers card lead… what happened to that guy? amazing how good pitchers can get so bad so fast.
but he looked ok in '08
wasn’t the surgery in ’07?
by stillnotah8er on Aug 17, 2009 6:01 PM PDT up reply actions
He started off dreadful
moved to the minors and was stellar, than had success in the majors. I just wonder how good he would be without his surgery, probably Top 5 pitcher
by SeanMillerSavior on Aug 17, 2009 6:03 PM PDT up reply actions
He really was amazing in 2006. Having Santana and Liriano at the head of the rotation for the whole year might have pushed the Twins much farther in the playoffs.
by Eric Stephen on Aug 17, 2009 6:07 PM PDT up reply actions
Part of it is bad luck. A large amount of his flyballs are landing in the seats (15.2%), something that generally evens out to about 11-12% over time.
His x-FIP for this year and last are close, even though the ERAs are disparate:
2008: 4.40 x-FIP, 3.91 ERA
2009: 4.64 x-FIP, 5.39 ERA
by Eric Stephen on Aug 17, 2009 6:05 PM PDT up reply actions
his line today is just so bad
of course, texas is ahead of boston for a reason as of today… but still
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2009_08_17_minmlb_texmlb_1
by stillnotah8er on Aug 17, 2009 6:08 PM PDT up reply actions
I also didn't really get the smoltz thing
but there’s room on the dodger bandwagon for everyone getting off the boston one… just don’t be too loud about it
by stillnotah8er on Aug 17, 2009 6:13 PM PDT up reply actions
The Angels broadcasters tonight are horrible.
Rex Hudler sounds like he’s high, and Steve Physoic loves the sound of his own voice.
I'm actually listening to the game?
I don’t get how Hudler and Physoic gets work when the other Angels broadcast team is a lot better.
Cards lineup
Schumaker 2B
Ryan SS (nooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Pujols 1B
Holliday LF
Ludwick RF
Ankiel CF
DeRosa 3B
Molina C
Carpenter P
crazy tony
putting the pitcher in the 9-spot… what will he come up with next?
by stillnotah8er on Aug 17, 2009 6:15 PM PDT up reply actions
Torre took into account my irrational hatred of knuckleballers
and moved up Haeger’s start to today, leaving Billingsley’s comeback start to be tomorrow while I am in attendance. Thank you Joe.
Anyone playing the Mets when Johan is not pitching should win
I wonder how bad we’d be if our four best position players were out for a significant amount of time.
Take Manny, Kemp, Andre, and Blake out and we’d look just as woeful.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Grady Little had Ned call Shea Hillenbrand when he was desperate for a 3B
Would Torre have Ned call Scott Brosius? Luis Sojo?
At least we have a couple of minor leaugers that might win 1/3 of the games if they were suddenly called up.
The Mets farm system is pretty bad and can’t help the major league team at all.
Don’t forget, they’ve now lost Alex Cora for the season too :)
by Eric Stephen on Aug 17, 2009 6:32 PM PDT up reply actions
I just hope Albert Pujols doesn’t decide to take out his frustration about Jonah Keri saying Lincecum is the NL MVP, until the Cards leave town.
Keri thought Cliff Lee was the AL MVP last year.
My counter-argument is that pitchers only win the MVP during ‘historic’ years. And while Lee was great, it wasn’t nowhere near good as say, Pedro Martinez in 1999, and he didn’t even sniff the MVP.
But if Pedro should have won, that’s not a good argument saying a pitcher doesn’t deserve MVP.
by Eric Stephen on Aug 17, 2009 6:36 PM PDT up reply actions
Well yeah, but I'm saying that pitchers have to face a hurdle normal position players don't have to.
And both Lee and Lincecum this year haven’t done that.
I heard people say Lidge should have won MVP.
I’m against a reliever winning any kind of major reward, even Gagne.
"Andre Dawson has a bruised knee and is listed as day-to-day.... Aren't we all?"
by Mr. LA Sports Fan on Aug 17, 2009 6:37 PM PDT up reply actions
*award
"Andre Dawson has a bruised knee and is listed as day-to-day.... Aren't we all?"
by Mr. LA Sports Fan on Aug 17, 2009 6:38 PM PDT up reply actions
Not sure
I do know they tend to get abnormally low BABIP’s.
by Brendan Scolari on Aug 17, 2009 6:43 PM PDT up reply actions
Brad Ausmus’ description of a knuckleball mitt is hilarious:
“Its like if a catcher’s mitt and a first baseman’s mitt had a baby.”
Lol
There’s a good Pineapple Express line here, but it’s not too appropriate.
by Brendan Scolari on Aug 17, 2009 6:44 PM PDT up reply actions
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