The Last Two Were Great, But Dodgers Need Another Win Against Padres For It To Matter
by Eric Stephen on Aug 5, 2010 3:30 PM PDT
in Dodgers Game Previews
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The Dodgers try to avoid a time-killing split against the Padres tonight by sending their hottest pitcher to the mound. Chad Billingsley has not allowed a run in his last three starts, spanning 21 2/3 innings, and looks to pick up where Ted Lilly and Vicente Padilla left off.
Since returning from the disabled list on June 28, Billingsley is 4-1 with a 2.82 ERA in seven starts, while averaging 6.38 innings per start. He hasn't allowed a home run since Memorial Day, a span of 62 1/3 innings.
Kevin Correia starts for the Padres tonight. He has lost both previous starts this season against the Dodgers, allowing eight runs and 16 baserunners in 11 1/3 innings.
The Dodger offense has benefited from some home cooking this week, with 16 runs in three games. The nine runs last night were fueled partially by Andre Ethier, who had two doubles and a home run. Ethier's game was the fourth this season by a Dodger with three extra-base hits:
| 3 Extra-Base Hits By Dodgers This Season | |||||
| Player | Date | Opp | 2B | 3B | HR |
| Ronnie Belliard | April 8 | @Pit | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Andre Ethier | May 1 | Pit | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| James Loney | June 15 | @Cin | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Andre Ethier | August 4 | SD | 2 | 0 | 1 |
No Run Support, No Problem
Jeff Sullivan of SB Nation noticed a trend about the Dodgers pitchers in games they receive very little run support:
When the Dodgers haven't scored - and this has happened pretty often - the Dodgers' pitchers have buckled down. That .612 OPS against with 0-2 runs of support is by far the best mark in baseball, a full 64 points ahead of second-place Texas. In tight, low-scoring games, LA's pitchers have managed to avoid allowing solid contact, and by avoiding solid contact, they've avoided blowing the game.
This really becomes apparent when you break down the Dodgers' schedule. The Dodgers have scored 0-2 runs 35 times, and they've won 11 of those games. And since you can't win when you don't score at all, the more significant figure is that the Dodgers have gone 11-13 when scoring just one or two runs. The Yankees, for the sake of comparison, have gone 3-11. The Rays have gone 2-19.
Get your guesses in for Xeifrank's game simulation here.
Game Time: 7:10 p.m.
TV: Prime Ticket
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This may be blasphemy
but I hate DiMaggio’s record. It’s a silly record, one that very probably needed help for him to obtain, and is meaningless — it tells you nothing about what DiMaggio was like as a hitter.
What’s more, he did it in 1941, giving some sportswriters reason to leave their senses and make DiMaggio MVP over Ted Williams. Fuck that noise.
The Omar Moreno of this blog
hmmm, let me see
where did I put my pitchfork at?
by Xeifrank on Aug 5, 2010 3:39 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
I have heard
and I’m no expert
That Joe got a few gifts from the official scorers to keep the streak alive. That is, to say the least, a controversial point. But I will stand by it, because I hate DiMaggio’s streak.
The Omar Moreno of this blog
I figured that's what you were getting at.
I would argue, though, that after Bonds’ tainted run on the HR record that this is now one of the most revered records in baseball.
"Revered," sure.
But human beings — as is their right — revere all sorts of things that are built on sand.
DiMaggio was a great player. The streak doesn’t tell you he was a great player. The streak is a statistical oddity, a fluke, dumb luck. You could hit .250/.250/.250 for two months and beat his streak and it wouldn’t make you better than DiMaggio.
The Omar Moreno of this blog
My favorite part of the streak
from May 15 to July 16, 1941:
DiMaggio: 56 G, 56 R, 91 H, 16 2B, 4 3B, 15 HR, 55 RBI, 21 BB, 5 K, .408/.463/.717, 1.181 OPS
Williams: 55 G, 61 R, 77 H, 15 2B, 0 3B, 12 HR, 50 RBI, 50 BB, 9 K, .412/.540/.684, 1.224 OPS
by Eric Stephen on Aug 5, 2010 3:43 PM PDT up reply actions 3 recs
That’s how much I liked it, hahaha.
Seriously, Ted Williams found a way to be under appreciated in his own time.
"Stop exploding you cowards!!!"
Williams>Dimaggio
It’s too bad that hitting streak (though amazing in itself) got Joe the MVP instead of a guy who hit .406.
"Stop exploding you cowards!!!"
The record for AB in a season is 716
by Jimmy “MVP” Rollins, in 2007.
Let’s assume the 57 straight singles happened at the end of the season, so it had the least effect on a player’s BA.
If a player through 659 AB was hitting .250 (165 hits), 57 straight hits would boost their average by 60 points, to .310.
Padres lineup
Hairston 2B
Tejada SS
Gonzalez 1B
Ludwick RF
Headley 3B
Torrealba C
Venable LF
Gwynn CF
Correia P
Holy crap
http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=1153&position=OF
Edmonds is worth 2.5 WAR this year…and OPSing over .850. He has a 7.0 UZR in CF as well. Dayum.
"Stop exploding you cowards!!!"
Edmonds is my second favorite player all-time
What are his chances he can make the HOF?
"Stop exploding you cowards!!!"
Who is #1?
"If your Mr. October, I'm Mr. Spring, Summer and Winter!" - Tommy Lasorda to Reggie Jackson
Albert Pujols
/Ducks
There really hasn’t been any Dodger until now that I could have really called my favorite player; the closest to it was Shawn Green, and he was my favorite Dodger of the 2000s before Kershaw, Kemp, and Bills came along.
"Stop exploding you cowards!!!"
No one who hit dingers from 1997-2004 is getting in because roids.
No one who hit didn’t hit dingers from 1997-2004 is getting in because not enough dingers.
Lol.
Edmonds is going to go down as one of the top 5 defensive CF of all-time, and one of the top 10 offensive CF of all-time (around there anyway), and I just can’t see a way he won’t make it.
"Stop exploding you cowards!!!"
Had his best years after 30. Hall of fame voters don’t care about defense unless you’re Ozzie Smith. Hell, it’s pretty clear they don’t care about anything but dingers and batting average, and they’re really bad at adjusting for position.
Better counting stats
than some HOFers, great ratio stats, and good peripherals for those who care about that sort of thing (there’s enough HOF voters out there that do know things as simple as OPS+, and the significance of a 130 career number there).
He won’t get in on defense alone, but all those Gold Gloves and people remembering all the highlights on TV will definitely sweeten his case.
Seems like a fourth or fifth ballot guy.
It's gonna be interesting to see what happens with this era's players.
Maybe I’m naive, but it is really hard to imagine keeping Bonds and Clemens out. Maybe they don’t make it in the first year, but I gotta think they make it. And once they do, the McGwires and Palmeiros and whomevers of the world find their path a little easier.
The Omar Moreno of this blog
You don’t need to convince me, Edmonds is a slam dunk Hall of Famer and probably one of the five best at his position ever.
To realize this though, you have to understand concepts like walks and adjusting for position which won’t happen.
It seemed like you were against it in your response to me
But glad to see you think he should get in.
"Stop exploding you cowards!!!"
If Tim Raines isn't getting in
I think Edmonds will have to wait, too.
Don’t make it right.
The Omar Moreno of this blog
That's what I am saying
His defense (and that homerun) were a big, BIG reason he made the HOF.
"Stop exploding you cowards!!!"
Maz and Ozzie are unique in that they were thought of, by contemporary players and writers alike, plus the SABR community, to be far and away the best defensive players ever at their position.
Ozzie even more so?
Smith is considered the single best defensive ballplayer that ever played, yes?
The Omar Moreno of this blog
I might say thats Brooks Robinson
But Smith may have been more athletic than him.
"Stop exploding you cowards!!!"
I'd think that
is probably true. Brooks Robinson is thought of as a defensive player first and hitter second. That’s for sure. Brooks could argue the same case as Ozzie, IMO.
The advantage that Edmonds has is that his bat is one of the greatest ever at his position (I can’t imagine it being worse than top 15, and at best the very end of the top 10) with one of the best gloves at his position ever, possibly top 5.
If Maz had a bat he would have been pretty scary.
"Stop exploding you cowards!!!"
I think
he’ll make it, but not as a slam dunk first ballot, or maybe even second.
Give me Edmonds over Dawson any day.
Edmonds (like a sustained Brady Anderson – there’s your roids guy) doesn’t seem to be suspected of steroids use the way most players are. Although he’s not one of those guys that always gets named as “did it clean” as if there’s some way of knowing (Griffey, Pujols, etc.).
Did anyone read
Cuban’s blog entry about the bidding process. Pretty interesting.
Crap
Most of the options required that I also purchase and take on expenses and assets/liabilities that I believed were not core to the operation of the team and could in fact make things more difficult. I was not willing to do that.
I can see this happening again if Frank sells. Him selling the team but also selling the team’s debt and therefore keeping Mark out.
Google before you Tweet. It's the new Think before you Speak.
The best thing about
what’s been such an awful post-AS stretch, is seeing who’s taking the mound for the Dodgers in the day’s game, and never being disappointed or afraid.
Two questions
1) When was the last time someone was thrown out at the plate on an Inside the Park HR attempt?
2) How is that scored?
Talk about cryptic
from Dylan H:
Colletti on what’s next for Belisario: “Some of it’s out of our control.”
That one happened recently though. Carlos Gomez in 08.
Google before you Tweet. It's the new Think before you Speak.
Yep
Also with outs mixed in.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHA/CHA200805070.shtml
Not sure if Silverwidow counts that.
he does have irrationally high standards. Who knows. Wikipedia says:
Since 1956, three “reverse natural” cycles have been accomplished, i.e., the home run was followed by the triple, then the double, and finally the single: Jim Fregosi (1968), Luke Scott (2006), and Carlos Gomez (2008). The home run of Scott’s cycle was also the first of his Major League career.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitting_for_the_cycle
Jim Fregosi?
Google before you Tweet. It's the new Think before you Speak.
Dodgers Lineup
Podsednik LF
Theriot 2B
Ethier RF
Loney 1B
Kemp CF
Blake 3B
Carroll SS
Ellis C
Billingsley P
I hope
this works out for us here. I hate that we just run the short bench out there in hopes he will be ready in 3 or 4 days.
I am not advocating Manny L’ing a guy that will be ready after 4 or 5 games, just like to know for sure that he’ll be back and fine.
J-Mac just struck out the side
against the Rockies.
by Alex41592 on Aug 5, 2010 4:13 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
Here's hoping to
Jmac making Ned look even worse and truly succeeding as an MLB starter. I’m rooting for you, James!
"Stop exploding you cowards!!!"
+1
Out of principle and sheer goodwill for J-Mac, I’m rooting for him to stick it to Ned & co.. But I have to admit that my first instinct upon seeing that was a feeling of slight nausea. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if this trade ends up being a Ken Phelps for Jay Buhner-type deal, for those old enough to remember. (For those who aren’t: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUwSxqnRW-8)
J-Mac looked awesome in his last Dodger appearance. Fucking stupid trade. Wish we could’ve given up Elbert instead.
J-Mac trying to help us win the division
heh
Adam Morrison has more rings than Lebron, Bosh, and Wade combined?
Phillies had bases loaded 1 out in the first and didn’t score. Go fish.
Google before you Tweet. It's the new Think before you Speak.
bases loaded 1 out and dont score
Man this sounds familiar
by SeanMillerSavior on Aug 5, 2010 4:25 PM PDT up reply actions
Lincecum
gives up a hit and a walk, then strikes out the side in all of 18 pitches. . .
by SeanMillerSavior on Aug 5, 2010 4:30 PM PDT reply actions
3-0 Bucs
Cedeno hooks the pole for a two run shot.
for fucks sake haha
I'm nobody's fool, least of all yours
by BoulderDodger on Aug 5, 2010 4:40 PM PDT up reply actions
He's gunning for the greatest debut after being traded by the Dodgers
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
i know, not news
I'm nobody's fool, least of all yours
by BoulderDodger on Aug 5, 2010 4:47 PM PDT up reply actions
Dicks
Can’t even plan a Bike Ride
Someone better keep a close eye on the Think Cure donation kitty. Do they end up splitting the charity benefits?
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
http://www.thinkcure.org/site/TR/Events/General?pg=entry&fr_id=1030
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
oh look, and Jason Repko hit a home run today
But of course, we didn’t need an extra outfielder at the time he was let go, so they say. We couldn’t have known we’d need one now, which is why we traded a catching prospect for one. Besides, we needed to trade for that extra outfielder more than we needed to keep another catcher and…
I think I need to go somewhere to scream. Or cry. I’ll decide when I get there.
Though this season has been a big disappointment so far, the off-field transactions are far more depressing, IMO.
I dunno
If we had seen improvements from Kemp/Ethier/Martin/Loney and from our top prospects, I think we’d all be pretty happy.
The off-field transactions add insult to the injury of the poor season. Not only do we have to suffer on-field disappointment, but the front office can’t even recognize what’s disappointing about it and makes these awful transactions.
The Omar Moreno of this blog
Was it reasonable to expect Kemp/Ethier/Martin/Loney to improve off of last year’s figures?
People don't think it be like this, but it do.
That's a yes. Well, a qualified yes.
Martin had the worst season of his career. No one expected the glory days of 2007, but improvement off of 2009 was reasonable.
Loney — well, people have been waiting for him to turn into Mark Grace for some time. That was reasonable.
Kemp took a big step forward in 2009 and looked ready to take the next step to superstardom. Reasonable? Maybe not…. but it coulda happened. A major step back is disappointing.
Ethier… I guess I was hoping for “more of the same.” And I guess, to a certain extent, that’s what I’m getting, except with all of his value loaded into April and early May.
The Omar Moreno of this blog
yeah
i think out of all of them, he had his chances. He couldn’t stay healthy.
by Tommy Blackjack on Aug 5, 2010 5:06 PM PDT up reply actions
I'm a little young for senility
I may be insane, but not senile. I mean, I’ve defended GA all year, so I’m not gonna sit here and pretend that all my hunches have worked out. (Though even with his near-total failure, I still think the hostility has been over the top, but anyway…)
Still, I did say at the time that the potential downside for the Dodgers letting go of Repko outweighed the little bit of cash they’d save. I stand by that, especially given how the left field situation has worked out, how we have one less catcher, etc.. I don’t blame Frank or Ned for all that, but it’s still frustrating, in light of everything else that happened, and compounded by J-Mac’s performance today. That I completely blame on Frank and Ned.
He did, but I’m just thinking we lost him in a roster crunch. A roster crunch that involved Russ Ortiz, but still a roster crunch.
shucks
I was seriously hoping you’d be able to tell me something where I’d be able to say, “Oh, well. In THAT case…” The fact that we lost him over Russ Ortiz makes it even worse! Ay yai yai…
to be fair
J-mac pitched like shit during ST, Ortiz didn’t.
by Tommy Blackjack on Aug 5, 2010 5:36 PM PDT up reply actions
yeah, that's true
I remember thinking at the time it was pretty harsh for all the people who were rooting for him to fall on his face during Spring Training, but I guess those people were right to do so- his success definitely hurt the Dodgers. Guess Russ was still working for the Giants, after all!
i know a lot of people
were saying “DON’T FALL FOR IT!!!! HE’S ALWAYS GOOD IN ST!!!!”
by Tommy Blackjack on Aug 5, 2010 5:51 PM PDT up reply actions
or just that spring training numbers mean absolutely nothing. Neither Ortiz had been a decent major leaguer pitcher in like 5 years. Taking one of them was asinine. Taking both was lunacy.
and we did it
though to be fair, if Elbert and J-mac had done good, I like to think they’d have been in.
by Tommy Blackjack on Aug 5, 2010 5:57 PM PDT up reply actions
James McDonald screwed James McDonald
by regfairfield on Aug 5, 2010 5:58 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Alex Gonzalez 2 run HR off Lincecum
Ties the game at 2.
yessssss
I'm nobody's fool, least of all yours
by BoulderDodger on Aug 5, 2010 4:57 PM PDT up reply actions
If MacDonald had done this as a Dodger
he might still be one.
Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man
and a fourth
I wanted him to succeed but let’d be honest this level of performance in a start just never happened.
Dodgers manager Joe Torre suggested Thursday that Russell Martin (hip) could miss the rest of the season.
Martin suffered a labral tear in his right hip while running the bases Tuesday and was placed on the disabled list on Wednesday night. If he’s truly done for the year, it is a major blow to the Dodgers’ chances of catching the Padres and Giants. A.J. Ellis and Brad Ausmus will split time behind the plate for Los Angeles unless a bargain can be found on the waiver wire.
by SeanMillerSavior on Aug 5, 2010 5:11 PM PDT reply actions
i know, extremely small sample size for Jmac
but if Dotel doesn’t get an opportunity to pitch a scoreless inning in the world series during his time with the dodgers i’m going to be pissed off with the trade…..so i guess i’ll be pissed off with the trade
I'm nobody's fool, least of all yours
his team being the pirates of course
don’t get me wrong, I wish the kid the best, but he hadn’t given the Dodgers a reason to keep him around after two stints in the show. Maybe he plays a career with the Pirates. Maybe the Pirates go get a Ken Griffey like once in a lifetime prospect and start being a force in the NL. Maybe that prospect is injury prone and the Pirates never quite make it. Or maybe the Pirates treat him like their last phenom and trade him to the Giants. I don’t know, I can’t predict the future, and neither can Ned Colletti, and oh my God I just defended Ned Colletti with like 100 words.
How would you define your approach to management, apart from being brilliant?
that's why you can't give up on these guys so quickly
fans get angry at Ned & Joe for blocking “the kids”, but if they come up and don’t perform the way everyone dreams about when looking at their minor league statistics, a lot of the same fans give up on them. As a rookie, J-Mac dominated against the Phillies in the playoffs! That, right there, is at least one reason to keep him around. He had shown us right there what he was capable of achieving. He just hadn’t, as Joe would say, “figured it out yet” on the whole.
Bottom line: You want to trade him, fine, but it better be as part of a package for a real difference maker in a year where the Dodgers are right in it, not for 2 months of a 36 year old reliever in a year where the Dodgers are barely hanging on to begin with.
This. Over the last 2 years we have traded a probably major league starting 3rd baseman and a probable major league starting pitcher for 2 relievers. Thats a inexcusable thing to do.
yup
Partially for my own sanity, I rationalized Ned’s moves ‘08 and ’09, and in fairness, most of those at least worked out for the short-run. But after what we’ve seen this year, and this past week in particular, no more. No matter what the Dodgers do for the rest of the season, I’m done defending the guy. I agree 100% with this post that was cited from Purple Row the other night. I guess the silver lining is that at least for tonight, they’re feeling the wrath of Ned’s incompetence now!
Torre quotes
Torre on Martin: “It looks like it’s going to be the rest of the year.”
Torre on Martin: “I think it’s pretty safe to say he won’t be back.”
Torre on Manny: “He doesn’t seem close.”
More quotes!
Joe Torre: “Ronald Belisaro looks like he’s in good shape. He’ll go on a rehab assignment this weekend.”
Joe Torre: “Russell Martin will be on crutches for the next three weeks. It’s safe to say he’s out for the year.”
Joe Torre on who’s catching: ""I’m going to alternate between Ellis and Ausmus."
Joe Torre: “Ronald Belisario could return in 7-10 days. It depends on the restricted list stuff.”
Joe Torre: “Manny (Ramirez) was given the day off from baseball activity. Still has some aggrivation in the calf.”
So what are the chances
that anyone worth picking up comes along thru the ole waiver wire?
Would we not be ready to sign just about anyone decent?
The Ellis/Ausmus combo doesn’t seem like the answer if want to at least make an effort to get back in it.
Anyone that makes it through waivers is either bad or overpaid. Neither one of those things really works with our situation.
That is what I was thinking
I was hoping for maybe Ianetta or Olivo from the Rockies. They are gonna part with Olivo after the year I’m sure. I’m not too pumped about the catching situation for the next 50 something games.
That's too bad about Martin
I know he hasn’t done too well on offense this season, but he really does work his hardest during each game, especially when he’s catching behind the plate.
Go Dodgers!
Can the Boys in Blue build off of that great performance yesterday? Taking 3/4 from SD would be great.
Pretty good
Kristin is freakin annoying. I am pumped to see her go. I was hoping that Hayden would get pulled off so he could stab Brendon and Rachel in the back immediately.
It will be funny if Kathy wins HOH. That is what I’m hoping for…..her or Matt.
That is the only
reason I’d like to see someone like Kathy or Brittany win HOH
Just to see what they do with the power.
So a 24 year old throwing 50 innings of sub 3 era baseball with a k/9 of 9 and a k-bb of 2.4-1 is nothing?
No need to tell me that
He failed miserably in his starts
by SeanMillerSavior on Aug 5, 2010 5:39 PM PDT up reply actions
He was good out of the pen
I am guessing, because I don’t know, that both he and the Dodgers wanted him to be a starter and that is it. He started and played most of the year in AAA so he could start. By not having him in the pen early this year or in the middle of the year tells me that they had no interest in him being a bullpen guy for the Dodgers. That is my theory on it.
They needed a bullpen guy and would rather have Dotel in the pen than JMac. He pitched well tonight, that cannot be debated. He must really have felt the pressure of starting in LA because he never had a really good effort starting for us. Probably a lot less pressure to perform in the rotation in Pittsburgh where there are no expectations and hopes for any team success in the forseeable future.
He was good tonight
no doubt.
I guess I am one of the only people who don’t care that he is gone.
I wanted him to be a badass for the Dodgers for 15 years, but they saw enough, I guess, to determine it wasn’t gonna happen.
I’m okay with it. I know this will be bashed, but it is how I feel.
But whats the point in trading him for a 36 year old middle reliever that costs 10 times as much as he does? I guess I just dont see a reason not to be supremely annoyed that the trade was made.
I see your point, I really do.
But I think they were done with him. I have no way of knowing if that is it or not.
How can you walk Juan Uribe?
The guy swings at anything that moves…
I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.
Adrian Beltre not feeling the pressure of the AL East
.337/.374/.566
20 HR and 75 RBI
23 BB 63 K’s
31 2B’s
Hit a GS tonight
he's a free agent after this season right?
Adam Morrison has more rings than Lebron, Bosh, and Wade combined?
Larry fails to get 'er done
2-2 going to the 6th
I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.
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