Dodgers Week 23 In Review: Getting It Done
Previous Weekly Recaps: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22
The Dodgers had a productive week, winning a pair of series on the road, as they inched closer to a playoff berth. The Dodgers won two of three games in Arizona, then did the same in San Francisco, effectively ending any Bay Area playoff dreams.
The offense came alive this week, scoring six runs per game. In an odd twist, Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp took a back seat while their supporting class, and Manny, did the heavy lifting.
Dodger Batter of the Week: James Loney had his best week of the season, hitting three home runs, hitting .381/.462/.857 while driving in eight runs. Manny Ramirez also had a great week, hitting .400/.526/.933, as did Casey Blake, who returned from his hamstring injury to hit .500/.615/.800 in the three game series in San Francisco.
Dodger Pitcher of the Week: Another late-season acquisition came through this week, as Vicente Padilla took the award. Padilla won both starts, with a 1.50 ERA, improving to 3-0 as a Dodger. Honorable mention goes to James McDonald, who struck out five of the six batters he faced.
Week 23 Record: 4-2
36 runs scored (6.00 per game)
21 runs allowed (3.50 per game)
.728 pythagorean winning percentage
Overall Seasonal Record: 85-59 (.590)
690 runs scored (4.79 per game)
541 runs allowed (3.76 per game)
.609 pythagorean winning percentage (88-56)
3-Dog: James Loney hit three home runs this week, and not surprisingly all three dingers came on the road. On the season, Loney has twelve home runs, with none at home. Willie Davis has the Dodger record for most home runs in a season, all on the road, with 11 in 1969. If Loney goes homerless in the nine remaining games at Dodger Stadium, the record will be his.
The Back End Of The Pen: The top four pitchers in the back end of the bullpen -- Jonathan Broxton, George Sherrill, Hong-Chih Kuo, and Ronald Belisario -- combined for 9.1 scoreless innings. For the week, the entire bullpen was strong as a whole, with a 2.76 ERA, even including Jeff Weaver's four-run outing on Sunday.
A Good Offense, For Starters: The eight regulars -- not including Ronnie Belliard, even though he did start five of the six games this week -- hit a combined .306/.390/.529 with eight home runs in six games. Even with the normal dynamic duo of Ethier and Kemp having an off week, the starters still led the offense to average six runs per game on the week.
Back-to-Back Jacks: Manny Ramirez and James Loney hit back-to-back home runs on both Monday and Wednesday in Arizona, the seventh and eighth time this year Dodgers have gone back-to-back. Four of those eight games were against the Diamondbacks:
| Date | Opponent | Inning | Batters |
| April 22 | Astros | 6th | Manny Ramirez, Andre Ethier |
| April 30 | Padres | 3rd | Orlando Hudson, Manny Ramirez |
| May 4 | D-Backs | 1st | Andre Ethier, Manny Ramirez |
| May 15 | Marlins | 6th | Casey Blake, Xavier Paul |
| July 11 | Brewers | 5th | Rafael Furcal, Andre Ethier |
| August 31 | D-Backs | 7th | Manny Ramirez, Matt Kemp |
| September 7 | D-Backs | 2nd | Manny Ramirez, James Loney |
| September 9 | D-Backs | 4th | Manny Ramirez, James Loney |
Transactions: Here are the transactions for the week:
- Sunday: Blake DeWitt was recalled after the season ended for the Triple A Albuquerque Isotopes, for his sixth sting with the Dodgers this season.
- Sunday: In addition to DeWit, the Dodgers also recalled Chin-Lung Hu
Upcoming Week: The Dodgers return home to face Pittsburgh for three, followed by a Thursday off day. The Giants come to town after that for a weekend series.
Magic Numbers
To win NL West: 15
To clinch a playoff spot: 12
Week 23 Stats
| Player | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SB/CS | BA/OBP/SLG | OPS | BABIP |
| Manny | 15 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0/0 | .400/.526/.933 | 1.460 | .444 |
| Blake | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0/0 | .500/.615/.800 | 1.415 | .800 |
| Loney | 21 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 0/0 | .381/.462/.857 | 1.319 | .294 |
| Martin | 21 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 0/0 | .286/.385/.619 | 1.004 | .211 |
| Furcal | 26 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0/0 | .269/.321/.423 | .745 | .304 |
| Ethier | 22 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0/0 | .273/.333/.318 | .652 | .316 |
| Kemp | 27 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2/0 | .259/.286/.333 | .619 | .333 |
| Hudson | 15 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1/0 | .200/.333/.200 | .533 | .214 |
| Belliard | 21 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0/0 | .238/.238/.476 | .714 | .250 |
| Pierre | 12 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3/1 | .250/.357/.250 | .607 | .300 |
| Mientkiewicz | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | .000/.250/.000 | .250 | .000 |
| Loretta | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | .000/.000/.000 | .000 | .000 |
| Castro | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | .000/.000/.000 | .000 | .000 |
| Repko | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | ---/---/--- | --- | --- |
| Ellis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | ---/---/--- | --- | --- |
| Pitchers | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0/0 | .091/.231/.091 | .322 | .250 |
| Totals | 208 | 36 | 57 | 9 | 2 | 9 | 35 | 25 | 6/1 | .274/.357/.466 | .823 | .293 |
| Pitcher | G | W-L | Sv | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | ERA | WHIP |
| Padilla | 2 | 2-0 | -- | 12.0 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 1.50 | 1.083 |
| Kuroda | 1 | 1-0 | -- | 8.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2.25 | 0.375 |
| Garland | 1 | 0-0 | -- | 6.0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4.50 | 1.500 |
| Billingsley | 2 | 0-1 | -- | 10.0 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 6.30 | 1.900 |
| Belisario | 4 | 0-0 | -- | 3.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0.00 | 0.900 |
| Broxton | 2 | 0-0 | 2 | 2.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0.00 | 1.286 |
| Kuo | 2 | 0-0 | -- | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 1.000 |
| McDonald | 2 | 0-0 | -- | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0.00 | 0.000 |
| Sherrill | 2 | 0-0 | -- | 1.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.00 | 1.800 |
| Haeger | 1 | 0-0 | -- | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 0.000 |
| Elbert | 1 | 0-0 | -- | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.000 |
| Troncoso | 3 | 0-1 | -- | 2.1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3.86 | 2.143 |
| Weaver | 1 | 0-0 | -- | 1.1 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 27.00 | 4.500 |
| Totals | 6 |
4-2 | 2 | 52.1 | 49 | 21 | 19 | 17 | 45 | 3.27 | 1.261 |
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Relief Pitching
Wow, Belisario, Broxton, Kuo, McDonald, Sherril, Haeger and Elbert combined to throw 12.2 innings without allowing an earned run. Only Weaver and Troncoso allowed runs this week.
Why didn't Torre use Sherril
with the bases loaded, no outs and a left handed batter coming to the plate – and with the game still close? Should it matter that it was early in the game? To me, that was the key to the game, a time when you should use your best relief pitcher so the game doesn’t become a blowout – which it did.
With the bases loaded, nobody out in the 6th, down 3-0, here were the batters:
Penny (RHB) – struck out by Weaver
Torres (switch) – walked by Weaver
Sanchez (RHB) – single off Belisario
Winn (switch) – struck out by Belisario
Sandoval (switch) – struck out by Belisario
by Eric Stephen on Sep 14, 2009 10:20 AM PDT up reply actions
Sandoval singled…copy & paste error on my part
by Eric Stephen on Sep 14, 2009 10:20 AM PDT up reply actions
switch-hitters
Also, in their careers…
Torres is way better against LHP – .781 OPS vs .511 against RHP
Winn is about the same – .767 vs LHP, .758 vs. RHP
Sandoval is about the same – .904 vs LHP, .899 vs RHP
So there was no real point to bring in Sherrill there at all.
by Eric Stephen on Sep 14, 2009 10:25 AM PDT up reply actions
That's why I asked, Thanks!!
But, even without lefties coming up, Sherril has been successfull against RH’s also. What about bringing in Broxton at that point?
by Dodgers1981 on Sep 14, 2009 11:26 AM PDT up reply actions
Torre was so upset about Bills he just punted… weavered that shit.
by LA Taco on Sep 14, 2009 11:28 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
"weavered that shit."
I’m going to start using that phrase in my daily life.
Well played.
by Michael White on Sep 14, 2009 11:30 AM PDT up reply actions
I have an M4A file that was recorded via iPhone, but I can’t get it to play in Windows Media Player. I’ll try to convert it at home tonight.
by Eric Stephen on Sep 14, 2009 10:15 AM PDT up reply actions
http://www.topdrawerdownloads.com/download/104928 is what I use.
by meercatjohn on Sep 14, 2009 10:59 AM PDT up reply actions
No
to a converter that will convert audio files created in Itunes into .WMA files. Free product, easy to use, does the job quickly. Instructions on how to use can be found here:
http://www.jakeludington.com/itunes/20071110_how_to_convert_m4a_to_wma.html
Someone at work had ripped a bunch of CD’s on Itunes and then realized the format was M4a and couldn’t play them in Windows Media Player. So I tried this product for them and it worked fine. I use Itunes but I found the ripping to be slow so I use a free product that rips twice as fast, better quality and then use Itunes to convert into M4a so I’m carrying both formats on my system.
by meercatjohn on Sep 14, 2009 11:10 AM PDT up reply actions
Chad Jinxingley
On June 15, Chad was 9-3 with a 2.72 ERA. I posted this Fan Post with the following info:
Click on the link above to see Chad Billingsley’s stats for the last calendar year. A quick summary:
33 games (32 starts)
21-6 record
215.2 IP
195 hits
81 walks
212 strikeouts
2.75 ERA
1.280 WHIP
The Dodgers have not had a 20-game winner since Ramon Martinez in 1990.
Since then, Chad is 3-7 with a 5.30 ERA. D’oh!
Over the last 30 days, Billingsley has an ERA of 5.18 and a FIP of 4.23. He has a BABIP against of 0.342 and a LOB% of 68.3%. Still not great, but there’s definitely been a lot of bad luck (variance) in his stats over the past 1 month.
vr, Xei
Yeah, I agree. He hasn’t been as bad as, for instance, SARA S thinks.
by Eric Stephen on Sep 14, 2009 11:16 AM PDT up reply actions
Ned's insurance paying off
the price may have been steep for several of them but having Belliard/Padilla/Garland on the roster in Sept has helped them overcome injuries and rest Blake/Hudson. Amazing pitching considering our two best starters all year did not pitch one inning.
Cracks in the Cardinal armor? Swept by the Braves, Carpenter gets hammered, and Franklyn starting to show some chinks.
From www.baseballhq.com
Latest Player Analysis :
9/13/2009 – Franklin suddenly struggling… Back at the end of August Ryan Franklin (RHP, STL) signed a two-year extension, earned mostly by converting 35 of his first 37 save opportunities this year with an ERA of 1.05 through the end of August. But suddenly Franklin has hit a rough patch, giving up 6 runs in his last 4 appearances and blowing his last two save chances.
2009 IP Sv ERA h% s% Ctl Dom Cmd xERA BPV
==== == == ==== == == = = = == ===
1H 29 18 0.93 22 95 1.6 6.2 4.0 3.75 93
2H 25 19 2.52 27 78 4.3 5.8 1.3 4.97 10
He pitched extremely well in the first half, allowing very few runners thanks to a 22% h% and a 1.6 Ctl. And those few who did reach base against him didn’t score as his 95% s% indicates. But in the second half his numbers have normalized and his Ctl has jumped way up, resulting in the much lower BPV and much higher xERA. In fact his xERA of 4.97 shows that even his 2.52 actual ERA is a significantly lower than we should expect.
There are points in Franklin’s past where he showcased the skill level he demonstrated in the first half. In 2007 he had a Ctl level of 1.2; last year he posted a Dom of 5.8; in 2007 he posted a BPV of 92. But he has also posted a BPV of 12 in 2008 and a Ctl of 3.8 in 2006. So he is quite capable of performing on both ends of the spectrum.
Franklin’s success thus far had been thanks to extremenly favorable BABIP. It doesn’t surprise me that his stats are starting to normalize.
by Michael White on Sep 14, 2009 11:09 AM PDT up reply actions
This is one record I hope Loney doesn’t get. Here’s to hoping he cracks a few homers at home!
You wanna know how great baseball is? The greatest basketball player ever left his sport to play baseball.
I'd like
for him to hold the record and then blast a home run in the first playoff game which will be at home.
Nice to see Martin with those bombs, what an offense this could be if the misbegotten boys (Martin/Loney/Blake) start producing along with the outfield.
by meercatjohn on Sep 14, 2009 11:50 AM PDT up reply actions
Records
“Willie Davis has the Dodger record for most home runs in a season, all on the road, with 11 in 1969. If Loney goes homerless in the nine remaining games at Dodger Stadium, the record will be his.”
Several people have put it this way, almsot half-wishingLoney keeps abstaining from home runs at home to earn this particular record.
How about “most home runs, all on the road, in a stretch during a season”? That may be more difficult to determine, but does that make it any more or less significant. Does Loney have this record already, or did some hard-hitting Dodger like Snider or Piazza get far more road-only home runs than 12 during some earlier year?
I thank you in advance for doing the research to look that up :)
by Eric Stephen on Sep 14, 2009 12:11 PM PDT up reply actions
Through 23 weeks
Here are the weekly award totals:
Batter of the week
Ethier – 5
Kemp – 5
Blake – 3
Manny – 2
Hudson – 2
Martin – 2
Loney – 2
Pierre – 1
Belliard – 1
Pitcher of the week
Kershaw – 7
Wolf – 4
Broxton – 2
Bills – 1
Belisario – 1
Garland – 1
Haeger – 1
McDonald – 1
Milton – 1
Padilla – 1
Stults – 1
Troncoso – 1
Weaver – 1

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