*** So I complained in my post for Friday night's recap that I wouldn't be able to watch Saturday afternoon's Dodgers-Giants game because I live in New York, and I'd get the Mets-Cardinals instead. Well, it turned out to be a good thing. The Dodgers got rolled, and the game I saw lasted 20 innings. I can't say it was that enjoyable of a game, but it was one of those games that you just had to keep on waiting for something to happen.
I thought for sure the Mets were going to blow it, especially considering that Francisco Rodriguez couldn't even get the save. I found it funny that the potential last out was hit to Luis Castillo. I remember watching him botch the pop-up from Alex Rodriguez to blow that game last year. Thankfully for him, this time he made the easy play.
*** Congrats to Ubaldo Jimenez for throwing a no-hitter against the Braves. It's not exactly one of the better ones in history considering he walked six guys. But hey, no hits is no hits. All that matters is the bottom line.
*** Right now, Jimenez is 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA. Tim Lincecum is 3-0 with a 0.90 ERA. No surprise that in this early season, the Giants and Rockies are 1-2 in the NL West standings. And that's the difference between those teams and the Dodgers. They have a dominant ace they can turn to, and the Dodgers do not. Clayton Kershaw gets another start today, but he can't get deep into games. Chad Billingsley hits a wall seemingly every game. Hiroki Kuroda and Vicente Padilla are middle-of-the-rotation guys.
*** Currently, the Dodgers have a collective team ERA of 5.69, good for 13th in the NL (out of 16 teams). To put it in perspective, they were first at 3.41 last year and first at 3.68 in 2008. Both years they made the playoffs. I'm not saying they have to be in first again this year if they want to make the postseason, but it's not hard to figure out a correlation between great records those years and a so-so one this year.
*** Then again, maybe the Dodgers just need to get healthy. Think about it - would you rather have Ramon and Russ Ortiz pitching late in games or Hong-Chih Kuo and Ronald Belisario? I thought so.
Showing posts with label Blue Views. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blue Views. Show all posts
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Blue Views
*** Note ***
Today I'm going to start a new feature here on Inside Dodger Baseball. It's called "Blue Views," and it's basically a running list of thoughts about anything to do with the Dodgers, or about baseball in general.
Quite often I have some opinions that don't exactly warrant a whole blog post, so this is my way of getting my views out there at once. Enjoy!
***
* It was good to see the bats get going last night against the Marlins. More specifically, the regular bats like Manny Ramirez and Rafael Furcal. It's not like the starting pitching has been that much to write about, but the bats were seemingly blowing chance after chance with runners on. That got pretty frustrating to watch.
* A guy who seems a little bit in limbo right now is Matt Kemp. It's not like he's having a bad year or anything, but he just doesn't seem all that comfortable to me. Remember during his breakout season in '09, the spot he appeared the most in the order was seventh (46 times). He also had 14 appearances in the #2 hole. Point being, he wasn't expected to do anything spectacular in those spots. Just getting on base was the goal.
In looking at his numbers hitting in the heart of the order from last year, they tell an interesting story: #4 - .216, #5 - .271, #6 - .240. Not exactly great numbers. Now look at these numbers: #1 - .400 (2-for-5 in one game), #2 - .291, #7 - .328, #8 - .421. I think it's safe to see why Joe Torre was so comfortable hitting Kemp up or down in the order. They won 95 games, so he must have figured that if it wasn't broke, don't fix it.
Going back to my original point, Kemp seems like he's still trying to adjust to hitting in an RBI spot. He has five strikeouts through four games, which is something he needs to address. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before he gets going, but I think we need to show some patience with him. He's still getting used to hitting in the heart of the order.
* Let's be thankful that Ramon Troncoso only missed the first game of the season. With Hong-Chih Kuo and Ronald Belisario out, and with George Sherrill getting lit up on Opening Day, Troncoso has been the only steady option to get to Jonathan Broxton. Troncoso's only gone two innings and no runs, but he just looks like the best pitcher of the bunch. Once Kuo and Belisario are back and the Ortiz's are more than likely gone, the 'pen should be as strong as ever.
* Based on the handful of games I've watched from the other NL West teams, it's hard not to think the Giants are the team to beat. They swept the Astros in Houston, then got a huge comeback win over the Braves in their home opener. The knock on them coming into the season was their lack of production at the plate, but they've scored five or more runs in three of their four wins. It's early, but they have to like what they've seen thus far.
The Diamondbacks have had an easy schedule to start (Padres and Pirates), but they too have hit well. Like I said in my season preview, so much depends on the health of Brandon Webb. I still don't see them doing much without him, but they've more than played steady ball in his absence. They'll need to keep that up to stay competitive in this division.
I haven't caught as much of the Rockies for whatever reason, but I did see Jorge De La Rosa look fantastic against the Padres the other day. This is a team that scares me because they have their same team back from last year that went on that incredible run. They're a scary team.
* Vicente Padilla gets another start today, and the Dodgers really need him to turn it around. It's never good to overreact after one start, but he was so bad, you couldn't help but to be concerned. Still, I really think he can get it going at some point. Hopefully tonight.
Today I'm going to start a new feature here on Inside Dodger Baseball. It's called "Blue Views," and it's basically a running list of thoughts about anything to do with the Dodgers, or about baseball in general.
Quite often I have some opinions that don't exactly warrant a whole blog post, so this is my way of getting my views out there at once. Enjoy!
***
* It was good to see the bats get going last night against the Marlins. More specifically, the regular bats like Manny Ramirez and Rafael Furcal. It's not like the starting pitching has been that much to write about, but the bats were seemingly blowing chance after chance with runners on. That got pretty frustrating to watch.
* A guy who seems a little bit in limbo right now is Matt Kemp. It's not like he's having a bad year or anything, but he just doesn't seem all that comfortable to me. Remember during his breakout season in '09, the spot he appeared the most in the order was seventh (46 times). He also had 14 appearances in the #2 hole. Point being, he wasn't expected to do anything spectacular in those spots. Just getting on base was the goal.
In looking at his numbers hitting in the heart of the order from last year, they tell an interesting story: #4 - .216, #5 - .271, #6 - .240. Not exactly great numbers. Now look at these numbers: #1 - .400 (2-for-5 in one game), #2 - .291, #7 - .328, #8 - .421. I think it's safe to see why Joe Torre was so comfortable hitting Kemp up or down in the order. They won 95 games, so he must have figured that if it wasn't broke, don't fix it.
Going back to my original point, Kemp seems like he's still trying to adjust to hitting in an RBI spot. He has five strikeouts through four games, which is something he needs to address. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before he gets going, but I think we need to show some patience with him. He's still getting used to hitting in the heart of the order.
* Let's be thankful that Ramon Troncoso only missed the first game of the season. With Hong-Chih Kuo and Ronald Belisario out, and with George Sherrill getting lit up on Opening Day, Troncoso has been the only steady option to get to Jonathan Broxton. Troncoso's only gone two innings and no runs, but he just looks like the best pitcher of the bunch. Once Kuo and Belisario are back and the Ortiz's are more than likely gone, the 'pen should be as strong as ever.
* Based on the handful of games I've watched from the other NL West teams, it's hard not to think the Giants are the team to beat. They swept the Astros in Houston, then got a huge comeback win over the Braves in their home opener. The knock on them coming into the season was their lack of production at the plate, but they've scored five or more runs in three of their four wins. It's early, but they have to like what they've seen thus far.
The Diamondbacks have had an easy schedule to start (Padres and Pirates), but they too have hit well. Like I said in my season preview, so much depends on the health of Brandon Webb. I still don't see them doing much without him, but they've more than played steady ball in his absence. They'll need to keep that up to stay competitive in this division.
I haven't caught as much of the Rockies for whatever reason, but I did see Jorge De La Rosa look fantastic against the Padres the other day. This is a team that scares me because they have their same team back from last year that went on that incredible run. They're a scary team.
* Vicente Padilla gets another start today, and the Dodgers really need him to turn it around. It's never good to overreact after one start, but he was so bad, you couldn't help but to be concerned. Still, I really think he can get it going at some point. Hopefully tonight.
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