Dodgers Ready For Another Home Opener
by Eric Stephen on Apr 9, 2010 1:00 PM PDT
in Dodgers Game Previews
Email
PrintAfter dropping two of three in Pittsburgh, the Dodgers finish their season-opening trip in Miami. Tonight is the home opener for the Marlins, the second of three home openers to be played by the Dodgers in a nine-day span. The Dodgers have won 10 of their last 13 games at Sun Life Stadium.
Hiroki Kuroda, who is starting tonight, has made his first start in San Diego in each of the last two seasons, allowing one run in a win in both 2008 and 2009. Kuroda plans to honor a decade-long teammate who passed away this week, writes Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times.
The Marlins took two of three from the Mets at Citi Field in their first series of the year. Chris Volstad, who has beaten the Dodgers twice in three career starts, takes the mound for Florida. The Dodgers did touch up Volstad last season, scoring four runs off him in both of his starts. Volstad allowed eight runs, 15 hits, and three home runs in 11 1/3 innings against the Dodgers last season, and had four walks against five strikeouts.
Kemp on a Steak Streak
Matt Kemp had a sacrifice fly in the third inning Thursday, and an RBI double in the fifth, the third straight game to start the season that Kemp has had at least one run batted in:
| Day | RBI | Details |
| Mon | 2 | Two-run single |
| Wed | 1 | RBI double |
| Thu |
2 | Sac fly, RBI double |
Since the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, only four men have had longer RBI streaks to open the season:
| RBI in Consecutive Team Games to Start Season | |||
| Player | Year | Games | RBI |
| Ron Cey | 1977 | 7 | 9 |
| Jim Wynn | 1974 | 6 | 12 |
| J.D. Drew | 2006 | 5 | 7 |
| Eric Karros | 1995 | 5 | 9 |
| Ron Cey | 1974 | 5 | 9 |
| Thanks to the great Baseball-Reference.com | |||
Olmedo Saenz (2005, 2006) and Paul Lo Duca (2001) had individual streaks longer than Kemp, but they both missed games in their streak.
Other Notes
- Ronnie Belliard, who yesterday became just the eighth Los Angeles Dodger to hit a double, triple, and home run in the same game, now has a .690 slugging percentage in 90 plate appearances with the club, the highest in franchise history for anyone with as few as 20 plate appearances. The only two other marks above .600 are Marlon Anderson (.644 in 102 PA) and Manny Ramirez (.601 in 671 PA).
- Hong-Chih Kuo had a positive bullpen session yesterday and could return soon without the need of a minor league rehabilitation assignment, writes Tony Jackson of ESPN LA.
- After missing opening day due to the birth of his daughter, Ramon Troncoso has pitched a scoreless inning in each of the last two games. Last season, Troncoso pitched wonderfully in 16 appearances with zero days rest, allowing just one earned run in 18 innings.
- The five Dodger reserves -- all of whom started the finale in Pittsburgh -- collectively have 11 hits in 26 at-bats with six extra-base hits, and are hitting .423/.429/.769 as a group through the first three games of the season.
- Brad Ausmus, who Thursday moved into a tie with Al Lopez for seventh place for most games caught (1,918), also tied former Dodger Shawn Green for the all-time Jewish record for most games played (1.951), per JewishMajorLeaguers.org.
- Thursday was minor league opening day, and the top four Dodgers' minor league affiliates are all on Twitter: Triple A (@ABQTopes), Double A (@ChattLookouts), High A (@66ersBaseball), and Low A (@GreatLakesLoons). You can also follow them all at twitter.com/truebluela/minors
Scheduled Pitchers in Miami
| Fri | 4:18pm | Hiroki Kuroda vs. Chris Volstad |
| Sat | 4:10pm | Vicente Padilla vs. Josh Johnson |
| Sun | 10:10am | Charlie Haeger vs Anibal Sanchez |
Tonight's Game
Check out Xeifrank's simulation of tonight's game here.
Time: 4:18pm
TV: Prime Ticket
174 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
I hope Jon SooHoo is taking pictures. From the Dodgers:
1980s #Dodgers reunion in clubhouse: Pedro Guerrero talking with Duncan, Howell, Honeycutt, etc
As much as I like Vlady
I think the Angels made the right swap. Matsui is better suited for the team these days.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Maybe Dawson should wear a Marlins cap...
from Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post, cool and not so cool:
Andre Dawson, who will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in July, will throw out the first pitch.
Scott Stapp of the rock band Creed will sing the National Anthem, which will be followed by a flyover of F-5’s from the US Navy.
Yuck on Stapp
I once heard Dave Grohl on the radio do a funny imitation/spoof of Stapp on Creed’s huge hit (arms wide open), but the only part I remember was a verse starting, “Enunciate …”.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
Greinke was discussed in moneyball, right? The year Beane drafted Swisher I believe.
by Michael White on Apr 9, 2010 1:52 PM PDT up reply actions
Maybe Maybe not
but maybe the devaluation of High School pitching in the draft helped us this decade since that is what Logan specializes in.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
a lot of players in that first round discussed...
Not Zach but that year the Royal picked a hard throwing texas…colt something..or something colt?
I just read Moneyball a few months ago
it’s even better to read now with all of the time that’s passed since. It’s funny how the author just FAWNS over Billy Beane, yet strangely, Beane does not come across particularly well to the reader- at least, I didn’t think so. But dealing with hindsight, the two funniest things were about the doltish “old-time” scouts who had the nerve to look at high school pitchers, and the “brilliance” of Billy Beane’s maneuvering of the 2002 draft. (“The fools in Milwaukee and New York chose Prince Fielder and Scott Kazmir! Nick Swisher and Jeremy Brown are as good as ours!”)
In fairness, I will say that Beane does deserve tremendous credit for exploiting the then-woefully underappreciated value of OBP. And ironically, the one move that would’ve probably been his MOST brilliant was the one he couldn’t quite pull the trigger on- Kevin Youkilis.
It has been a while since I read Moneyball
but technically wouldn’t the credit for the Youkilis deal go to (new GM) DePodesta, since Youk was compensation for Beane going to Boston?
could be
I’ve already forgotten the specifics, but in the book, it was very clear that Beane wanted to bring Youk over to Oakland very badly, but couldn’t quite close the deal. Maybe if he hadn’t been so busy trying to make sure the A’s drafted Nick Swisher. Who knows?
I believe he means that Beane worked VERY hard to acquire Youklis in a trade. He loved Youklis and Boston had no desire to give him up.
by Michael White on Apr 9, 2010 2:43 PM PDT up reply actions
You’re not being fair regarding the Brown draft pick. Beane and everybody in the organization knew that Brown would be available at the end of the first, there was no fear that somebody else would snatch him in front of him.
by Michael White on Apr 9, 2010 2:42 PM PDT up reply actions
Besides, Swisher turned into a legit pro-baseball player. That’s a successful draft pick.
It’s really easy to draft people in hindsight.
by Michael White on Apr 9, 2010 2:44 PM PDT up reply actions
granted, it was a bit of a cheap shot
but the overall point still stands. There was a whole paragraph dedicated to Beane’s brilliant maneuvering of the draft, which in retrospect CLEARLY did not work out the way Beane (or the author, for that matter) thought it would. Other parts of the book hold up well over time, but that part…not so much.
And they DID specifically mention Beane being glad that Kazmir and Fielder were drafted by other teams, as if it was a foregone conclusion that those were foolish moves.
He thought Fielder was fat and that the Tigers would overreach and draft him because of his legacy (they didn’t.)
The most brilliant executive in every sport has made draft picks that don’t hold up over time. Not valuing Fielder as high as his true value ended up isn’t even that big of a mistake.
by Michael White on Apr 9, 2010 2:48 PM PDT up reply actions
For example, Beane valuing Swisher over Fielder is a much more forgivable mistake compared to what Phil indicated this morning where Logan White valued Brian Morris over Tim Lincecum.
by Michael White on Apr 9, 2010 2:52 PM PDT up reply actions
I'm not saying
the draft itself was so awful for the A’s, just that it didn’t validate the idea that Beane’s unconventional way of evaluating talent was superior to anyone else’s, which is what the author was clearly trying to convey. That’s all.
White certainly liked Morris
But it wasn’t just White who would have passed on Lincecum, BA had him going 12th. Most scouts thought he was destined for the bullpen.
The Royals really sucked at drafting until they hit Grienke
2000 – Mike Stodolka with the 4th pick, then again that was a lousy draft unless you nabbed Utley with the 15 pick. Maybe one of the ugliest first rounds of the decade.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/index.cgi?draft_round=1&year_ID=2000&draft_type=junreg&query_type=year_round
2001 – Colt Grifin with the 9th pick. Again not a terribly strong first round after Mauer/Price/Teixeira went off the board. David Wright went 38th.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Man
If you actually remember some of those first round names you’re either lying or a freak. More busts than a Las Vegas chorus line.
I remember them when I see them
but no way could I rattle off the first 20 picks without baseball reference. I do have Colt Griffin locked away because I was reading Rany who was a huge Royal fan.
Sometimes when you see how many misses the first round has and how much money was paid to them you have to wonder why bother.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
The infamous Matt Harrington
Jumps out at me. Funny that the only two names that even in hindsight would’ve been a better grab instead of Diggins are Kelly Johnson and Wainwright.
And we drafted him out of high school
but the prick decided to go to the basketball school.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Does anyone else find it disconcerting
to see
Blake 3b
DeWitt 2b
and it takes a second to realize that is two players not one?
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
I realize that with Manny in LF there is no other choice for Reed Johnson today
But I still find it hard to believe that GA in RF and Johnson in LF was the optimal defensive arrangement yesterday. Not that there was a play where it matter, although I doubt GA would ever have a near-collision with The Bison.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
Torre was reported to say that due the fact that
Left Center Field is the deepest part of that outfield, RF has a smaller area to cover. Also, I will note that when I saw the team practice in Camelback, Anderson was playing RF with Ethier.
Thanks
Never saw/heard that remark anywhere. Neither have great arms, so I that seems like good thinking to me.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
James Loney, #3 hitter?
This is Loney’s 26th career start in the 3 hole. .346 / .383 / .523 / .906, with 10 XBH, 4 HR, in 115 career PAs in the three spot. Last year he started twice there, July 5th against Josh Banks in San Diego (the first game Manny didn’t start after his suspension) and June 3 in LA against Jon Garland.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
Somewhere, Ned Colletti is reading this, stroking his mustache, and saying "depth baby, depth!"
“The five Dodger reserves — all of whom started the finale in Pittsburgh — collectively have 11 hits in 26 at-bats with six extra-base hits, and are hitting .423/.429/.769 as a group through the first three games of the season.”
As much as I criticize Colletti, I’ll give him preemptive credit for this year’s bench. The main bright spot in the first three games.
+1
He really did great under the circumstances. Maybe he really DID need Frank to tighten the purse strings in order to realize his true potential as a GM!
Ethier is 2 for 8 with 2 walks against Volstad
He is 5 for 10 with a double and a walk against Josh Johnson.
Reed Johnson is 2 for 3 against Volstad with a double, he is 2 for 5 against Johnson with a HR.
Braves up 2-0 on the Giants
keep the runs coming
by SeanMillerSavior on Apr 9, 2010 2:20 PM PDT reply actions
haha any time the giants are losing im happy
the games on MLB network so im just watching God Heyward play
by SeanMillerSavior on Apr 9, 2010 2:26 PM PDT up reply actions
Big fat panda just got robbed of a single
on a sig web gem from prado
by SeanMillerSavior on Apr 9, 2010 2:29 PM PDT reply actions
Last year I was in DC when ATL was in town and a friend and I went to a gentlemen’s club and apparently Gonzalez was there the night before and the dancers were telling us how big of an asshole he was and how they took a watch from him and some cash. And he gave one of the girls a gift that only a doctor could get rid of.
by vadodger on Apr 9, 2010 2:45 PM PDT up reply actions 4 recs
Did you run into anyone from the Republican National Committee?
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
Different club
No bondage theme = no Republicans.
Speaking of Panda Sandoval
He just hit into his 4th double play, has hit into one in each of the first 4 games.
Hit into that DP right after the special PandaCam on the Giants TV broadcast.
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
Best PandaCam ever
Oldie, but goodie at this point.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
by David Young on Apr 9, 2010 2:47 PM PDT up reply actions 2 recs
Scientists think that actually caused the Eureka earthquake last year
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
Looks like we could be one game out
if we win this evening the way things are going up norte.
vr, Xei
Jimmy Rollins was surprisingly blunt on the Dan Patrick show this week
I’m sure we could afford [Lee]. … When the trade happened, I actually got a text from Jayson Werth and he was like, ‘What are we doing?’ And I was like, ’Didn’t we get Halladay?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, but we traded Lee.’ And my mouth dropped like, ‘That wasn’t part of the deal.’ I really don’t know. I thought we had enough to keep him. … I guess that’s just a move the Yankees do… That’s just the truth. The Yankees would have been like, ‘Hey, we got a chance to keep both of them. We’ll pay them both for a year or two and we got a chance to win a championship.’
Via mlb.fanhouse.com. I suppose it doesn’t really mean much, but it is a bit unusual for a player to say that much critically of the front office, esp. for a defending league champion one season removed from being world champions.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
I’m sure we could afford [Lee].
Rollins himself has no way of knowing that (I assume), hard to say from where we are sitting that he is right.
by Michael White on Apr 9, 2010 3:01 PM PDT up reply actions
Players generally think ownership has more than enough money
Unless he was willing to kick in, not sure why Rollins should say anything, though it makes for good radio.
They could have easily afforded Lee
2010 salaries
Cliff Lee: $9 million
Joe Blanton: $7 million
Of course, they made the choice to replenish their prospects by trading Lee, which would have been far better than the return they received by trading Blanton
I can see the Phillies' point
in a way. They are thinking long term, which in a way is smart. They have their top four starters under contract through 2012, and their entire lineup locked up (except Werth) through 2011.
That said, I would have kept Lee. It would be too tempting for me not to have him and Halladay at the top of the rotation. And the flip side of having the starters locked up is that Joe Blanton gets $24 million over 3 years. But I can’t blame them for the idea of thinking long term, even if I didn’t agree with the execution.
Also
Lest anyone think I am dismissing the difference of $2 million, I offer you this…
Danys Baez: $2.5 million 2010 salary
- Anyone Else: $400,000
Difference: $2.1 million
So they decided it was more important
to have Danys Baez then Cliff Lee? Or am I misunderstanding?
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
No
Baez + Blanton + prospects > Lee
by Michael White on Apr 9, 2010 3:37 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Is that > then World Championship
is really the question
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Playoffs are a crapshoot for the most part
You sacrifice a couple of wins in the 2010 regular season for increasing the odds of remaining a very good team going forward. It’s kind of the fast food – I want everything now consumerism philosophy vs the level headed – being good but saving a little for the future.
vr, Xei
That’s why I said I agree with the philosophy for the most part. I’m just not sure I would have then spend $24 million to keep Joe Blanton.
They obviously value the prospects they got for Lee, but I’d be tempted to go Lee for one year, then spend the $15m for 2011-2012 on a different pitcher, and take the difference in prospect return from the Lee and (potential) Blanton trades.
I was going to give you a half-hearted retort asking if $2MM was meaningless to you. But I realized I had been beaten :)
by Michael White on Apr 9, 2010 3:37 PM PDT up reply actions
I like Rollins
I look forward to hearing more candor from him as he is a guest analyst on Fox during the NLCS this year. :)
by Eric Stephen on Apr 9, 2010 2:56 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
I like him too. I remember listening to him as a guest on Stephen A Smith’s radio show some years ago back when Philadelphia looked terrible to start the year (they really weren’t that bad.) Smith was stroking Rollins of course and basically said that Rollins needed more help from his teammates. Rollins got pissed, and basically said I’m not interested in you bagging on my teammates. Smith backed off….
by Michael White on Apr 9, 2010 2:59 PM PDT up reply actions
Actually
Hudson reminded me a lot of Rollins; maybe he said one thing too many to Torre (kinda like what happened with J.P. “The Pimp” Ricciardi).
was listening to Buster Olney this morning
and he was talking about how “scouts are saying in their (fill in the blank) years in baseball, they have never seen anything like…” yadda yadda yadda. I’m suffering from “in all their years of baseball,” fatigue. Yeah, they’re only doing that with two players, but that’s at LEAST one player too many. Phrases like that can lose their meaning very quickly.
I agree
In the NBA, every year it seems like they say X player is the best athlete in the draft, heck he might be the most athletic player in the past 10 drafts. Last year it was Blake Griffin, this year its Wall. It’s just the hype machine. People who are paid to discuss the draft (in the NBA and NFL it is the most pronounced) like to discuss how cutting edge every draft year is because it makes them feel like they are on the front lines of the next century or whatever
I agree, i’ve had about enough of that kind of talk myself.
by Michael White on Apr 9, 2010 3:12 PM PDT up reply actions
Anyone else excited to see Haeger pitch? I enjoyed watching him pitch last year haha. hopefully he will do well with the chances he gets
Tim Hudson 6 innings of shutout ball
with only 58 pitches
by SeanMillerSavior on Apr 9, 2010 3:15 PM PDT reply actions
Good thing they traded Vazquez
or they would have a crazy good rotation.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
He's the best I've ever seen in my 50 years of watching Brave baseball
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
What a great time it must be for the Atlanta braves- having the best pitcher AND hitter in their entire history right at this moment!
My brother used to work for them
so I have a rooting interest.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Where I live there are a lot of Braves fans and during their run they were pretty annoying. I really remember the 1991 pennant when the Dodgers lost out to the Braves my sister and I were the only Dodgers fans and never heard the end of it.
I know a lot of people who don't like teams because of fan behavior
but I based my likes and dislikes on the players or how the team was built. If anyone from another team came to LA and mistakenly got a seat in the pavilion they would have a very sour opinion of our fans but it would be misplaced, since it was based on only one aspect.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Doesn't selling high
involve getting a high return. If the return is Melky how can that be called selling high?
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Because
They sold “high”. Sold Vazquez at his highest value. I didn’t say they bought “high”.
vr, Xei
That would be like me selling my Marvel stock at $35 when it was priced at $50
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
That would be like
you trading in your $50 stock for a $35 steak dinner. You sold it high, you just didn’t barter very well. Still selling high.
vr, Xei
Krukow and Kuiper now like Mota
Mike Krukow: “And btw, Guillermo Mota looks better in a Giants uniform than a Dodgers uniform.”
Renteria not sucking to start the season, hope he reverts to Suck soon.
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
Yes
He pitched a scoreless inning for what it’s worth.
They also raved about how well he hits in batting practice.
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
I will say this
There really must be nothing like being a Dodger fan in San Francisco, the way you and the others talk about that existence, I am hard pressed to think of another example (at least not involving New York and Boston)
Yah outside of NY vs Boston
… Fans here really hate the Dodgers beyond any reason. As if taught about how evil they are from childhood onward, as if the Dodgers were Nazis or something. Giants fans’ lives revolve around both the Giants and how the Dodgers are doing. It’s really laughable.
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
Thankfully
A huge chunk of the population here is from somewhere else or not sports fans, so you have fans of a lot of other teams here, as well as people who could care less. So one is not exactly surrounded. Anyway as I said, if I can survive living here during the Giants World Series run (loss to Angels) I can survive another year when they’re just decent.
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
Are we saying Hanson is going to be better than
Glavine, as home grown pitcher.
He will never put up numbers like Maddux did in the 90s.
And I am sure Sarcasto doesn’t believe Heyward will eclipse Aaron (who had a split career in Milwaukee/Atlanta.
I think if you had read all the prior posts
you should have realized how sarcastic Mr. Sarcastro and I were being
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
I think it would do Jon good to come over here and write a guest
column where he lets loose with a Torre/Broxton tirade breaking a few of his rules. Then again he’s a good enough writer he doesn’t have to stoop to that level and say “What the fuck was Torre thinking?”
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
I thought the 50 year thing was a bit much for you Phil
After all, you had all those years of watching the very good Braves teams in 70s.
Wow, DeLaRosa was on today
man if he keeps harnessing his control he is going to be a force.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Droid update
MLB At Bat works well, gameday audio comes in loud and clear. Not sure about all the bells and whistles yet, I can comment here and at DT.
You can comment from the phone
while at-bat is running?
If so you are 1000000% better than the iPhone…the at-bat app has to be running for it to work…all other apps are out
yes, i can comment
Apparently so, though, all I am doing is listening to the game.
by bhsportsguy on Apr 9, 2010 3:47 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Not true, sir
At Bat 2010 allows you to run audio through Safari. This means you can open other apps while listening to the game. Unfortunately, because At-Bat uses Safari to stream audio, it means you can’t open another web page.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on True Blue LA
Related FanShots on True Blue LA
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
In Association With
Big League Stew - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
- College player makes impossible over the fence catch to save tournament game (Video)
- Security!: Camden Yards guard collides with Royals’ Mike Moustakas
- The Juice: Nelson Cruz matches career high eight RBIs, Pujols stays hot in Seattle
- Benches clear at Fenway as Red Sox-Rays rivalry heats up
- Keeping good company: Albert Pujols becomes fourth-youngest player to hit 450 home runs
