Kemp & Ethier Rule The Day For Dodgers
by Eric Stephen on Sep 1, 2009 11:06 PM PDT
in Dodgers Game Recaps
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PrintMatt Kemp stole the show early, and Andre Ethier saved the Dodgers late, holding off the Diamondbacks 4-3 at Dodger Stadium in the second game of their four-game series.
Kemp homered in the first, then singled and stole second in the third, scoring when a throw from rightfielder Justin Upton hit Kemp at second base. Kemp motored around third, scoring easily, a la Kirk Gibson. This was the third game of the season in which Kemp had both a home run and a stolen base.
Kemp has also homered in four straight games and five of his last six, giving him a career high 23 on the season. Is a 30/30 season in reach? It sure looks like it.
Vicente Padilla was solid, giving up only a run in 5.1 innings. Early on, it looked like his night would be a short one, as he loaded the bases with nobody out in the first inning. However, he gave up just one run that inning, retiring 16 of the final 19 batters he faced.
Scott Elbert, on his first day back up with the big club, gave up two runs in the sixth to tie the game, but the Diamondbacks would score no more off the Dodger bullpen. Ronald Belisario picked up his third win of the year, pitching 1.1 scoreless innings, although he did allow an inherited run to score.
Justin Upton, who rivals Kemp for the title of best young outfielder in baseball, had three hits in five at-bats for the second straight game. Upton has been unbelievable over his last 20 games, hitting .427/.489/.756 with 20 runs scored and 18 driven in. He has reached the point where I don't want him batting against the Dodgers in any situation, yet I can't turn away when he's at the plate.
Andre Ethier drove in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the seventh with a bases-loaded walk, and then saved the Dodgers' bacon in the top of the eighth with a wonderful running catch at the wall in right field, saving at least a game-tying double, if not more, by Brandon Allen.
Jonathan Broxton picked up his 30th save on the season, becoming just the fifth Dodger to do so, joining Eric Gagne (three times), Todd Worrell (three times), Jeff Shaw (twice), and Takashi Saito. Broxton has struck out 13 of the last 28 batters he has faced.
Hiroki Kuroda pitched five innings for Class A Inland Empire tonight, and per Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times, is tentatively slated to start Sunday night against San Diego.
Chad Billingsley faces off against Max Scherzer tomorrow night. Jim Thome is expected to be activated tomorrow, and although the corresponding move hasn't yet been announced, Beto Duran of ESPN 710 noted that Travis Schlichting was placed on the 60-day disabled list to make room on the 40-man roster. However, that move has not yet been announced.
UPDATE: Schlichting to the 60-day DL has been reported by Jim Peltz and Kurt Streeter of the LA Times.
WP -Ronald Belisario (3-3): 1.1 IP, 1 hit, 1 walk, 1 strikeout
LP -Leo Rosales (1-1): 1.1 IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 1 strikeout
Sv - Jonathan Broxton (30): 1 IP, 1 hit, 2 strikeouts
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Dylan with a great article.
According to sources with knowledge of the situation, the player to be named later in the trade is Tony Abreu, who might be low on durability but is high on talent.
With the Dodgers not expected to retain Orlando Hudson, who could command a multimillion deal with an annual salary of $8 million to $10 million, Abreu might have gone into the spring training next year as the favorite to take over as their starting second baseman.
That leaves the Dodgers with Blake DeWitt, who is batting .256 in triple A.
Or Colletti to find another bargain.
People should really read the whole thing. Dude gets it. He really does.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-dodgers-diamondbacks2-2009sep02,0,1998503.story?page=2&track=rss
Colletti wants to return to the Dodgers
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-dodgers-diamondbacks2-2009sep02,0,1998503.story
“You can’t always get what you want…”
starting infield for 2011
3rd base josh bell
2nd base tony abreu
shortstop dejesus
1st base unknown…
catcher carlos santana…
that is an infield with the whole package… power and patience…
instead colletii traded it away except for dejesus who has the least power…
the dodgers barely ever develop any power players…. and the ones that could classify as that… ned traded away…
i still dont understand how clayton is not an ace..
what more does he have to do.?
Their second starter would be Chad Billingsley, who has disappointed the organization with his inability to either act or pitch like an ace. Not to mention, his career postseason earned-run average is 7.24.
FUCK YOU!
I was listening to Steve Mason and John Ireland being dicks to A. Martinez today.
Claiming that Garland can pitch game one or two, and Martinez saying that if Billingsley is right, he dominates.
garland gives up 10 hits per 9 innings
what a joke
It was a gagging moment.
They even claimed that Martinez knew crap about baseball. I disagree with Martinez a lot about the Dodgers, but he’d at least know how Billingsley is. I doubt Ireland and Mason does since its not about the Lakers, or USC football.
Just skimmed the article.
According to him, Billingsley and Kershaw can’t be aces because they’re ‘young’ and prone to slumps.
roy hallladay is in a slump
lincecum was in a slump his first few start of this season…
Cole Hamels
…hasn’t been much of an ace this year. His FIP is 4.04. Billingsley’s is 3.59.
+1
I'm nobody's fool, least of all yours
by BoulderDodger on Sep 2, 2009 7:50 AM PDT up reply actions
Cole Hamels
in a slump over his last 26 starts with a 4.26 era. not their guy – except against that aa lineup boch put out there today.
I love this line.
Judging from raw statistics, the Dodgers’ pitching is set, with the league’s best ERA and lowest opponent batting average.
But postseason pitching is about raw, period. It’s not about cold statistics as much as swagger and savvy and stuff. Even though starting pitchers work less than anyone in a World Series, it is no coincidence that 11 of the last 23 Series featured a starting pitcher as MVP.
So…. 12 of the last World series featured a position player as MVP. Good to know!
we dont have great pitching??
why would we be in trouble?
as long as our pitchers are savvy and carry loads of swag
we will win the world series.
... we sittin here talking about practice. not a game, not a game.
Sashimi will help us win in the playoffs?
2009-10 LA Kings Hockey: Where Smyt Happens!!
by DodgerBlueBalls on Sep 2, 2009 9:16 AM PDT up reply actions
pitching IS important
not sort of.
... we sittin here talking about practice. not a game, not a game.
Despite Billingsley’s apparently damning 7.24 postseason ERA in all of 13.2 innings, his postseason FIP is 2.64.
He has allowed one home run and eight walks in those 13.2 innings, while striking out 19.
From what I remember, he was doing fine against the top of the lineup.
(Rollins, Utley, and Howard) and then getting killed from the bottom of the lineup.
i remmeber rollins had a leadoff homerun against him in game 5
high fastball 3-2 count..
Pretty much every ball in play went for a hit.
by Eric Stephen on Sep 1, 2009 11:58 PM PDT up reply actions
I just looked it up. Against Chad in those two playoff games, the Phillies had 11 singles and a double in five innings. Their BABIP was .688.
Chad did have 7 walks, but 2 were intentional.
by Eric Stephen on Sep 2, 2009 12:10 AM PDT up reply actions
sp based on his FIP
he had a great postseason last year,….
The delta from the FIP to the ERA just means that last year he was unlucky
not that he had a great postseason last year.
Though I’m sure you knew that….
by Michael White on Sep 2, 2009 7:46 AM PDT up reply actions
8 walks in 13 innings sucks
and is 100% of Billingsley’s problems. If he can’t cut the walks way down, he cannot be great. Even with the walks, he is still good, mind you.
Billingsly walks 11% of batters faced.
In the playoffs he walked 13%. Neither of those are acceptable.
The intentional walks ae only relevant
if you think Billingsley has a disproportionate number of intentional walks. I doubt very much that he does.
Fair enough.
I’m curious because the other day you seemed to dismiss Kershaw’s walk rate because his K rate was so high, but in fact Billingsley’s walk rate is better, and K/BB ratio is also better than Kershaw.
I think I know the answer to this, but is it just because Kershaw is 3 years younger and much more likely to get better, or is that you think Kershaw is better than Billingsley now?
I think Bills and Kershaw are both very good
Kershaw is possibly the best pitcher I have had the good fortune to watch live – but time will tell on that.
Bills has had an extra full season and is 4 years (well closer to 4 than 3) older than Kershaw. Also importantly, Bills has been getting worse – not a trend you want to see in a 25 y.o. last year, even though I was not excited about his 9% BB rate – I figured it was good enough – would probably improve some and I expected Bills to be truly great this year. Instead, his walks have gone up and he is merely good.
If Kershaw starts walking more as he ages, I’ll be disappointed and say the same thing to him as well.
Also, as to which is better right now, probably Kersahw by a hair – but only because he is a lefty so they don’t have to be quite as good as righties. Note the probably, I could be wrong if I took a closer look at it.
You are correct inasmuch as it is a small sample size. But that being the case, it’s equally irrelevant to discuss the 8 walks in 13 innings of postseason play anyway.
by Michael White on Sep 2, 2009 8:04 AM PDT up reply actions
To be clear
I don’t care about his post-season 13 innings at all. I discussed them only because I think it was suggested that his 8 walks in 13 innings was “not bad.” I don’t agree with that, if that was the suggestion. I wish his walk rate was something confined to his post-season stat. If it was, he’d be in teh running for CY this year.
People act like walks are the worst thing a pitcher can do, when really its the fifth worst thing a pitcher can do. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like walks, but I do appreciate that Kershaw in particular (and to some degree Billingsley) is seemingly unafraid to walk somebody and keeps throwing his pitch instead of throwing fastballs right down the middle which can be crushed.
by Michael White on Sep 2, 2009 7:59 AM PDT up reply actions
That is one big helmet
No wonder why nobody wants to wear the damn thing, its huge!
by Tripon on Sep 2, 2009 12:16 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
Is that even real? WTF!
I saw the one Ryan Dempster wore this past weekend and it didn’t look like that.
That's what she said!!!
2009-10 LA Kings Hockey: Where Smyt Happens!!
by DodgerBlueBalls on Sep 2, 2009 9:18 AM PDT up reply actions
jacoby ellsbury get #5 and #4 on web gems
posedinik gets #3 brad hawpe get #2 and yes will Venable of the padres get #1 with Andre Ethier getting number 0
Wow
I really like the web gems from time to time, but this is retarded. It’s stupid to be bitter about this, but Ethier deserved to crack the top 3.
nevermind
i just realized he made the catch after they made the rankings already and they didnt want to take ellssbury out so they just didnt put him in..
Sounds like Bills, Kershaw, and Wolf are gonna be going on 5-days rest from here on out. Says Joe Torre:
If we have six starters, so be it.
You wanna know how great baseball is? The greatest basketball player ever left his sport to play baseball.
Plaschke is a tool. Maybe if all of us never talk about him he will go away.
by delias man on Sep 2, 2009 2:38 AM PDT via mobile reply actions
the extinction theory...
learned about this in Psych class. Unfortunately if we go that route his crap is gonna get worse before it goes away
by bucknellbruin on Sep 2, 2009 4:39 AM PDT up reply actions
that is halarious
thanks for bringing a chuckle to my am
by MammothDodger on Sep 2, 2009 8:48 AM PDT up reply actions
What ever happened to Rick Moranis?
He was good shit.
by Ian Capilouto on Sep 2, 2009 9:56 AM PDT up reply actions
“Honey, I shrunk my career”
2009-10 LA Kings Hockey: Where Smyt Happens!!
by DodgerBlueBalls on Sep 2, 2009 10:04 AM PDT up reply actions
Thanks for the link.
Rick Moranis is sort of an oddball I think. An odd transition from movie star/comedian to what looks like a full time blogger. I respect that.
by Ian Capilouto on Sep 2, 2009 11:50 AM PDT up reply actions
Matt Kemp has four home runs in four games and with his incredible August has turned himself into a top five MVP candidate, Andre Ethier makes the catch of his life, Padilla is actually effective, Broxton has become a beast again, who the fuck cares what Bill Plaschke has to say about the postseason or that ESPN doesn’t stay up until midnight to update their plays of the night.
That catch was simply awesome
the crazy thing is, we’ve all seen catches like that before, where a player catches a ball going over the wall. But in most cases, the player has enough time to get to the wall and time their leap (its not rushed.) Ethier didn’t have that luxury and he basically had to make that catch from a dead sprint. The degree of difficulty was pretty high on that one.
by Michael White on Sep 2, 2009 8:59 AM PDT up reply actions
A classic moment
was when Ethier looks into his mit not one but TWO times just to make sure it was true.
He looked at it first a few seconds after he got up and then again when he was running in, just to make sure it was really there. Classic.
But Matt Kemp wasn't an All Star . . .
Kind of makes the All-Star to ability ration about as relevant as the academy awards.
Scherzer vs Billingsley
FIP
Scherzer 3.51
Billingsley 3.63
BABIP Against
Scherzer .345
Billingsley .292
LOB%
Scherzer 66.2%
Billingsley 71.2%
HR/FB%
Scherzer 9.1%
Billingsley 7.3%
2009 Park Factors (Runs)
Arizona 1.204
Los Angeles 0.873
Scherzer has been the better pitcher so far this year.
People seem to have forgotten just how good of a starting rotation the Diamondbacks have, (or could’ve had) if Brandon Webb had not gone down. They now have a third top notch starter in Scherzer. If the Diamondbacks could ever fix their offensive woes, they could easily vault themselves back into division title contention for next year. The NL West is going to be very very good next year.
vr, Xei
Yup, Scherzer is a stud
he has had some bad luck, but he is unquestionably sound.
by Michael White on Sep 2, 2009 10:36 AM PDT up reply actions
They get some bounceback
from Drew and Young, growth from Upton (scary thought), same from Montero(Better then Martin and not really close) they will close the gap but I don’t expect Webb to be effective for them next year which really puts them behind the A – Ball. Of course Tony Abreu at 2nd base also helps close the gap.
I love the platoon role of Montero/Snyder, keeps both catchers fresh allowing Montero to hammer RHP. Hopefully Parker does not come onto to fast, as Tripon said in the prospect report, he’s already having some shoulder issues.
Someone compared the Diamondbacks to the 2005 Dodgers and we know what happened with the 2006 Dodgers. As Xiefrank said, the West is going to be wild over the next few years.
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