Dodgers Hurt By The Finish, But Burned By The Start
by Eric Stephen on Apr 15, 2010 1:41 AM PDT
in Dodgers Game Recaps
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The Dodgers dropped an extremely frustrating game Wednesday night, 9-7 to the Diamondbacks in 11 innings. After using seven pitchers for the first 10 innings, including scheduled Saturday starter Charlie Haeger, the Dodgers were left with Russ Ortiz against the heart of the Diamondbacks' order for the 11th inning, a decidedly less than favorable matchup. However, rather than pin all of the blame for this loss on Ortiz the younger, or even Joe Torre for his bullpen usage patterns, the key to this game was yet another poor outing by the Dodger starting pitcher.
Chad Billingsley was cruising into the fourth inning, having retired eight straight batters and throwing a total of 45 pitches to that point. Billingsley struggled over the next two innings. He threw 25 pitches in the fourth inning, allowing three runs that allowed Arizona to tie the game. Then, after a Matt Kemp home run staked Billingsley to another lead, Billingsley threw 26 pitches in the fifth inning, allowing two more runs. So beleaguered is the Dodger bullpen that Torre had Billingsley start the sixth inning, just trying to squeeze another inning out of his starter. However, Billingsley couldn't finish the sixth, allowing another run, pushing his tally to six runs allowed on the night.
Yes, the bullpen has struggled so far this season. A strong case can certainly be made that the Dodgers are carrying three pitchers -- Russ Ortiz, Ramon Ortiz, and Carlos Monasterios -- that probably shouldn't be in a major league bullpen. But right now it doesn't matter who is in the bullpen, if the starters can't pitch six innings. After watching the Dodgers issue nine walks, general manager Ned Colletti was disappointed in the club's lack of ability to throw strikes, reported Tony Jackson of ESPN LA:
"You can pitch with average stuff, but if you throw strikes, you can win. You can pitch with above-average stuff, but if you don't throw strikes, you're going to struggle."
Collectively, the starters and relievers have disappointed so far this season:
| Split | IP | ERA | FIP | WHIP |
| Starters | 43.2 | 5.36 | 4.55 | 1.603 |
| Relievers |
28.0 | 5.79 | 5.09 | 1.679 |
Jeff Weaver was unavailable tonight after pitching in six of the first seven games of the season. Russ Ortiz was the eighth pitcher used, leaving only starters Clayton Kershaw, Hiroki Kuroda, and Vicente Padilla left, though not really available. Down by two in the bottom of the 11th, Ortiz was pinch hit for by A.J. Ellis, the final position player used. Chris Volk of Dodgerfan.net was covering the game, and reports what Torre said would have happened had the Dodgers tied the game:
On who would pitch the 12th inning (if necessary): "It would have been one of those guys on the field…we would have found a volunteer in there somewhere…we may have gone lefty righty, back and forth."
We could have been this close to seeing former high school pitcher James Loney take the mound!
Other Notes
- Jackson also reports that both Hong-Chih Kuo (who is throwing a 20-pitch rehab assignment in San Bernardino tomorrow) and Ronald Belisario could be activated during next week's road trip
- Wednesday night was just the fifth time since the club moved to Los Angeles that the Dodgers lost a game in which they had 19 hits
- Casey Blake's game-tying double off the left field wall in the ninth inning missed being a game-winning home run by what appeared to be two feet or less
- Matt Kemp homered for the third time in four games
- Rafael Furcal, Andre Ethier, and Manny Ramirez each had three hits
- Russell Martin also had three hits, and a walk, improving his on-base percentage to an eye-popping .571
- Ronnie Belliard smacked a double in his only at-bat, his fourth extra-base hit in 13 plate appearances this season. Belliard is hitting .538/.538/1.077 this season
- Ramon Troncoso got the final out of the sixth inning, pitching for the sixth time in seven games.
- Jonathan Broxton retired all three batters he faced in the ninth inning, throwing 13 pitches
- Mark Reynolds of the Diamondbacks made three wonderful throws from his knees that I can remember
- The Dodgers have scored 52 runs in eight games, behind only the Phillies (64 runs) and Arizona (55) in the National League
Hiroki Kuroda and Dan Haren face off on Jackie Robinson Night, later tonight!
WP - Leo Rosales (1-0): 2 IP, 2 hits, 3 strikeouts
LP - Russ Ortiz (0-1): 1 IP, 3 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks
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Posted in the vent thread as well
Lots of things are hurting this team right now.
Russ Ortiz and Ramon Ortiz have no business pitching in the major leagues. After tonight Lindblom and Mcdonald better be highly considered a bullpen spot. Lindblom would be better to bring up now because he has 3 options, Mcdonald only has 2 left I believe, and it’s still a while till any relief comes from Belasario or Kuo.
Matt Kemp is hitting very well, but his defense is worse than I would play in cf. Quite frankly it’s a disgrace right now. I love Kemp but he needs to focus when he’s playing defense, it’s really inexcusable how bad he’s been so far on defense.
The rotation is worse than advertised by the national media, and it just makes me groan. It’s not because they are right, but because they think they are right because of A. Padilla starting the season opener and B. The rotation sucking complete ass so far minus 2 or 3 starts. The walks are killing us so far, and the bullpen is being severely overused, and at this point that cannot happen.
The bullpen is the worst thing about this team so far, and it was the best thing about it last year. The only pitcher not to have a bad outing so far has been Broxton (and I think Troncoso actually), and everyone else has run into at least one bad outing. We need Kuo and Belasario badly.
The offense is near the top of the league right now…and we’re still not able to score. Yes I believe we’re scoring about 6 runs a game, but with how many people the Dodgers are getting on base there is no way this team should get 19 fucking hits and score 7 god damn runs. Sorry for the language, but it’s extremely ridiculous to average more than 2 runners an inning and only score 7 freaking runs. Just flat out terrible (and I hate to say this) clutch hitting. UGHHHH.
James Loney is so horrendous looking at the plate. His 2nd to last at bat I could barely stand to watch. It seems like he is simultaneously bailing out, getting on his front foot, and dipping his swing. What in the hell is wrong with his swing? No wonder he’s got no power, that swing looks awful. Maybe I’m seeing it wrong, but from what I see he needs to make some major mechanical adjustments to his swing. Holy crap. Not only that, but he managed to have the most worthless 2-6 in the history of mandkind. Both hits were singles, neither one led to a run, he left 7 on base, and he wasted a leadoff double by Manny I believe in the 9th and went on to have the worst at bat I’d ever seen him have. It’s dumb to cast off Loney right now a week into the season, but he really needs to start slugging more than .350+ like last week or he’s not going to have much of a future with this team after 2010.
I know some of these look like knee jerk responses, which may be some part of it, but I don’t understand how such a good team can be so bad at the same time. Tomorrow needs to be a big game for Kuroda.
I agree with everything you wrote there except the part about clutch hitting. I think over the course of a season a team will score runs equal to about 35-40% of their walks plus hits. Dodgers are at 40% for the season so far, and even last night were at 32%. This is very rudimentary way of looking at it, but I think “clutch” hitting is almost entirely normal statistical fluctuations combined with observer error.
I do however agree 100% with your view on our bullpen. Get rid of the Ortizes.
by CarolinaDodger on Apr 15, 2010 5:59 AM PDT up reply actions
It just seems like every time I see the final box score the Dodgers are scoring 5-7 runs, but they have about 5 or 6 more hits on top of that, along with a lot of walks. It’s really hard to see that and then look at our opponents and see them getting far less hits but still winning the game. I think the offense is very good, and may end up being one of the better LA Dodgers offenses ever, but they are leaving runs on the table quite often so far. That’s bound to change if they keep hitting, it’s just frustrating.
Good to know you can make rotation conclusions without even going through
the rotation twice.
by Chad Moriyama on Apr 15, 2010 6:38 AM PDT up reply actions
Did I say this was how the rotation will be? Did I say I think the rotation will suck for the entire year? Nope. I said so far there have been only 2 or 3 good starts, and unfortunately it’s going to give all the people who said the Dodgers don’t have a good rotation even more ammo. I think the Dodgers staff is very underrated, but can you rely deny that they have sucked complete ass so far?
Who cares?
Cole Hamels has sucked ass so far too. I wouldn’t trade him. It’s just not relevant.
by Chad Moriyama on Apr 15, 2010 5:39 PM PDT up reply actions
12th Inning Pitcher
Thanks for the shout out, Eric. Some of the media guys were joking with Joe after the game that they thought Loney would have certainly volunteered to pitch the 12th, and Joe responded with, “I’m sure he would!” We were sooo close to seeing Loney, or maybe Ellis, on the mound. How great would that have been?
by Dodgerfan.net Chris on Apr 15, 2010 1:57 AM PDT reply actions
That would have catapulted this game into legendary status. Great 8.5 hour session at Dodger Stadium today. I’ll be there this weekend.
by Eric Stephen on Apr 15, 2010 2:06 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Sucks we dropped another.
Glad I fell asleep rather than watch and get irrate. We can still win our first series. Let’s find positive things.
by Skunkburner on Apr 15, 2010 3:13 AM PDT via mobile reply actions
What started out so promising
turned into a 5-hour test of faith. The wife and I sat through the entire thing, enjoying the fine vantage point from bhsportsguy’s seats. Billingsley’s stuff looked good from where we were in the early going. When things got rougher, we couldn’t tell why they started hitting Chad hard – had to assume some balls got hung.
Took a quick glance through the chat, which leads me to want to comment on two things.
In the last inning, what remained of the crowd booed the home plate umpire loudly, not RussO. We all though there was a called third strike there.
Also in that inning, on the pop fly that wasn’t caught: remember, Mark Reynolds was the batter. Kemp was playing deep, as he should. It isn’t surprising that his first step was back – Reynolds took a big hack – and I see a lot of CFs do the same thing. More importantly, to my eyes, I fully expected Furcal to field that ball. It wasn’t that deep and Kemp had a long way to come. I think Kemp thought so too, because I could see him hit the afterburners after Furcal showed he wasn’t taking the play. Yes, Furcal was in DP depth, but he could/should have taken it. In the bottom of last, Drew was also in DP depth and caught CBlake’s pop up about three steps from that same spot, and Blake’s wasn’t hit nearly as high as Reynolds.
In any case, the game should never have come to the bottom of the 11th and Russ Ortiz on the mound. The offense put up six runs through eight innings and seven through nine. That should have been enough. Even a 6 IP, 4 run non-quality start from Bills would have sufficed.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
I’m a freaking zombie this morning. Thanks Chad.
I do think the pen problems will be greatly mitigated with Guo and Beli returning. As for Loney and Bills – what can you do? Its now been since July 5 since Bills got an out post-6th inning, but even if he is having mechanical trouble or whatever, we have no depth to allow him pen work. I’m not convinced its mechanical anyways. I still think with better pitch selection he can and will bounce back. But it would really help if he could do that now.
by oshea2002 on Apr 15, 2010 6:04 AM PDT via mobile reply actions
Kensai,
It may only be 8 games this season, but lots of the problems with this team are the same aas they were last year (excluding the bullpen). Safe to say, Billingsley is still a question mark, Kershaw’s walks have not yet improved, and the inability to do “little things” like moving runners along or scoring from third with less than 2 outs is a continuing problem.
We had the best record in the NL last year with those problems so I wouldn’t be too concerned with them sinking us this season either. Plus, I don’t really buy the “little things” argument.
by CarolinaDodger on Apr 15, 2010 8:09 AM PDT up reply actions
Billingsley needs to know how to bunt better, because he was nowhere close on his bunt attempt in the 4th or 5th or whichever inning that was. I’m hoping it was an outlier, and he normally is a good bunter, because he cost us a run by bunting and missing at a pitch in the dirt and then not doing anything on the called strike three. I’m not much of a small ball type of person, but I’ve noticed that it’s cost us runs this season so far, so it might be of some concern.
These are the same people that said Matt Kemp would never be a star because he can't do little things.
Worked out great.
COOL SCOUTING, BRO
by Chad Moriyama on Apr 15, 2010 5:41 PM PDT up reply actions
He’s acting like we are sitting here calling it a season. I don’t think any of us have made any notion similar to that. Myself, I vented on the problems this team has faced this year. Every one of them (maybe save the offense one, because they are the only good thing about this team so far) has been legitimate. That in no way means I’m saying this team is doomed, or this team won’t take the West over the fad-Rockies, because I have no doubt that they will. The pitching is not this terrible, and they still start to do better. But up to this point the pitching has been atrocious, and there’s absolutely no way to deny it.
lol
Yeah, last year’s team had all the answers in the first eight games of the season.
by Chad Moriyama on Apr 15, 2010 5:40 PM PDT up reply actions
I forgot this ealier,
Suck It Ortiz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
by Skunkburner on Apr 15, 2010 7:05 AM PDT via mobile reply actions
Some Positives
1. The offense continues to produce. Lots of walks and x-base hits are a good thing.
2. Kuo, Bellisario, and Lindblom will soon be part of the bullpen.
3. Ortizle-dum and Ortizle-di will soon be long gone.
4. The bench is very solid.
5. Every Astros loss brings us one day closer to Oswalt. :)
It also brings the Rockies one day closer to Oswalt
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
How late would Lindblom have to be called up to avoid Super two?
And when will the experiment of him as a starter stop? I thought he was a better reliever.
First or second week of June
But it doesn’t matter because he won’t make anything in arbitration anyway. Not enough to care about holding him back, anyway.
by Eric Stephen on Apr 15, 2010 8:07 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
I like the idea of Oswalt in Dodger Blue. Eric you have some pull. Put a bug in someones ear.
by Skunkburner on Apr 15, 2010 7:49 AM PDT via mobile reply actions
noooo
ive noticed over the past couple of years people outside the dodgers view our prospects with a very VERY unfavorable eye. to get someone like oswalt (who’s old and on the downside of his career) would probably cost something in the range of – Jmac / ethan martin / maybe our 3rd best hitting prospect. in houston they’d have to sell to the fans trading their icon player better net something in return. oswalt is not the answr!
Question to someone who has followed more closely:
should we be concerned about Lindblom’s less-than-electric beginning to the 2010 season?
They are trying to convert him into a starter right? I keep hearing he projects better as a late inning reliever. Could his crappy starts be proving this out? Last year he struggled as a starter then flourished when put back in the pen. At any rate he CAN’T be any worse than the Ortizii.
by EephusBlue on Apr 15, 2010 8:47 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
One Start?
No, I’d be concerned if he was in the bullpen and doing poorly.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Yes
Because one start means he sucks. Just like the major league team.
by Chad Moriyama on Apr 15, 2010 5:41 PM PDT up reply actions
I am officially
done with James Loney. I’ve been cold on him since halfway through the 2008 season, but I’m finally through. I’ve been telling anyone who will listen, for nearly 2 years now, how they need to trade him before his value drops. Way too late now – they’d be lucky to get a middling prospect for him at this point. Before the Manny trade, I was hoping we could get Dunn straight up. Last season I was hoping he could be part of a Halladay trade, with Overbay coming to LA. In the offseason, I was hoping they’d move him for junk and reassign his $3 mil to Adam LaRoche (a guy who managed to come through last night with a nice little piece of hitting).
Seriously, what is this guy doing STRIKING OUT with ONE OUT and the BASES LOADED? There’s no value in a starting 1B that hits like a 4OF, let alone on one of the best teams in the majors. Hitting is even more crucial at 1B these days, when you look around the league and see how many great hitters there are at that position. The Dodgers have a major hole in their lineup.
It was suggested a couple days ago on TBLA that there should be a Belliard/Loney platoon at 1B. Screw the platoon – give me Belliard only. And I’m not just saying this because of last night, I was saying this at the end of ST.
Anyway, regarding Bills, the case that he is mentally weak is sadly becoming stronger. I still have faith, but maybe the guy is starting to buy into the negative hype surrounding him. Especially when he’s banned from starting in the postseason. Can’t imagine he feels too great about his abilities.
I know the team will turn things around, especially since the bullpen situation is bound to fix itself. I’d still like to see Ramon O. get more chances before writing him off, but Russ has no business holding a glove and baseball.
On the positive side, it’s very nice to see Furcal, Martin and Manny hitting well. To me, this is probably the most encouraging thing to be found in this 3-5 start. If those guys can all hit like they did 2008 and prior, the Dodger offense will be a juggernaut with the best OF in MLB, a renewed Furcal and Russ, OBP DeWitt and Consistency Blake.
But screw Loney.
I’m not done with Loney, but he hasn’t shown anything for over a year, really. I’d like to give him at least a few months this year to see if he is going anywhere on offense. Honestly the Dodgers have no other option, and I wouldn’t call Belliard an option. One thing that would be great is a trade for Berkman and Oswalt in June or July for Loney, Mcdonald, and I’d guess 2 of the top 10 Dodger prospects.
That trade would never even be considered with how much they make, though. It might actually be 3 top 10 prospects for those 2 with Loney and Mcdonald.
Proposal trade: Loney, Ely and Link for Oswalt??
Je t'aime Louise Bourgoin... I Love you Louise Bourgoin... <3
No way
the Astros would want better prospects and/or more cost-controlled major leaguers if they reach a point where they would trade Oswalt.
Think of it this way…if we got Ely and Link for Pierre, why would the Astros give up Oswalt just for [Pierre] plus Loney?
by Eric Stephen on Apr 15, 2010 9:38 AM PDT up reply actions
Your name should be skunkburner, cause you’ve taken one too many bong hits.
by Skunkburner on Apr 15, 2010 4:07 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
You're right
So Loney + Mc Donald + Paul for Oswalt or Lilly??
Je t'aime Louise Bourgoin... I Love you Louise Bourgoin... <3
The Dodgers aren’t going to trade Loney unless they have another one coming in return, or in a separate trade.
Too early to think about anyway.
by Eric Stephen on Apr 15, 2010 9:42 AM PDT up reply actions
Who wants Lilly? lol. I think that for Oswalt would work much better than your first offer, but I’m not sure it would get it done still.
Eovaldi is a Texas kid, I wonder if they’d have any interest in him.
While I agree it is too early to really be thinking about deals, I wouldn’t be surprised if we are actually in on Oswalt, but I think it would be part of a larger deal to include Berkman as well.
Something like Loney, Padilla, Eovaldi, Dejesus, and Robinson for Oswalt and Berkman.
Fair trade... It doesn't cost many prospects...
Je t'aime Louise Bourgoin... I Love you Louise Bourgoin... <3
I don't see Loney being part of a trade
at any point. Who would even want him, and where would they put him? The problem is, the Dodgers would need a 1B in return, and offense is certainly not this team’s issue.
If there’s anything that makes me feel good about Loney, it’s this:
Similar Batters through 25
Jeff Bagwell (975)
Ted Kluszewski (974)
Alvin Davis (960)
Joe Hauser (948)
Babe Young (943)
Rafael Palmeiro (939)
High Pockets Kelly (939) *
Steve Garvey (939)
Joe Adcock (936)
Adrian Gonzalez (935)
Or Loney + J-Mac and Ely for Duchscherer or Millwood ??
Je t'aime Louise Bourgoin... I Love you Louise Bourgoin... <3
You want Duschscher?
You will hate him when he gets his next 60-day DL injury. I mean he’s good in fantasy off the waiver wire because I can always cut him, but you can’t do that in real life. :o
by Chad Moriyama on Apr 15, 2010 5:43 PM PDT up reply actions
How about
Loney, Withrow and Gordon for Ryan Howard.
Then all 3 dominate as the Phils sweep LA in the 2013 NLCS.
Also
Is anyone else at least slightly bitter that Penny looks like a stud in his 2 starts so far?
He was filthy last night. Hitting 95, spotting pitches on the corners, was only missing barely outside when he was missing, and got ahead in the count against all but 1 or 2 batters.
Hold on there Babalouie
Ramon Ortiz got two outs and then suffered. His excellant spring got him the position on the staff. I’ll keep him there until Kuo and Bellisario come back. If you’re serious about bringing back McDonald, you must have missed last season. He is the one who should never wear a major league uniform.
Troncoso pitched to one batter, which was a waste. He can go an inning or more.
The real point though is starting pitching. We can’t have relievers pitch half of the games. I want starters to go into the 7th inning each game at least. That lets Joe use a couple relievers the way a manager is supposed to.
But, 19 hits and 7 runs should win 90% of the games, so I’m not worried – yet.
If you’re serious about bringing back McDonald, you must have missed last season. He is the one who should never wear a major league uniform.
If you are going to continue to post here, please don’t be stupid.
You know what? That was too harsh…
If you are going to continue to post here, please don’t post stupid comments.
by Eric Stephen on Apr 15, 2010 1:16 PM PDT up reply actions
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