Sunday, July 17, 2011

Things we Learned from Today's Game (7/17/11)



Ladies and gentlemen, your 2011 Los Angeles Isotopes


Overview: Lilly likes giving up long balls, Hudson hits homer. Diamond backs 4, Dodgers 1.

Pros: Lilly, despite giving up two more homeruns, one to D'Backs pitcher Daniel Hudson, was actually pretty sharp. He struck out 9 over 6 and 2/3 innings while walking just two and allowing just four hits. We start to get the feeling that if two or three times a game Lilly didn’t serve a meatball to some scrub, then he might actually still be a pretty good pitcher. Kemp continues to be pretty much the entire Dodgers offense, even when he has a mediocre game. Kenley Jansen struck out the side (around a hit) in his one inning of work, giving him 51 K’s in 31 and 2/3 innings. Daaaaammmn.

Cons: Offense. We’ve known this for some time, but other than Kemp and Ethier, there is just nothing on this team to scare people. Aaron Miles batted fifth today. We'll repeat that: Aaron Miles batted fifth today. The worst part is, as crazy as that may be, we don’t really have a better suggestion at this point for who should be hitting fifth. On a day where Matt Kemp only gets one hit (and scores the only Dodgers run on a wild pitch), the team just can’t get anything going. The bottom of the order is a black hole, and the top of the order isn’t doing much better. Even Jamey Carroll, who most agree has been a pleasant surprise since signing last year, has hit just .176/.276/.235 over the last month. What a time to go in a slump and kill your trade value.

What we learned: It’s tough to say if we learned anything by this game, other than the fact that Daniel Hudson is truly an up and coming star for the D-backs. What this game does is reinforce the idea that this team should not be buying at the deadline. There are simply too many holes on the roster that cannot be plugged up with enough talent to make any kind of run. When Aaron Miles is hitting fifth, a spot usually reserved for good hitters, it’s pretty much a white flag on the season.

Just for fun, here are some more pictures from today's game.



Kenley Jansen, being awesome.






Kemp, waiting for somebody else on this team to do something.



Kuroda wondering what the weather is like in New York right about now.



A pretty nice stadium over all, though with the feel of a mall more than a ballpark.


Sorry for the blurriness of some of these pictures. Just imagine you're looking at the field through my teary eyes.

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