Depressed Dodgers taking frustrations out on themselves

We apologize for the lack of posts lately, but we're still stinging from Wednesday's loss.  Not only did the Dodgers blow a six run lead and ended up losing 9-8, but they lost Dee Gordon to the disabled list.  Nothing seems to be going right for the Dodgers this season.  I think we can all agree that Ned Colletti is a terrible GM and Frank McCourt is the incarnate of Lucifer himself but, believe it or  not, there are more reasons then just those two why the Dodgers find themselves just one game out of last place in the National League West.
One of those things is luck.  I believe the last time I checked the Dodgers, at one time or another in the season, have placed 974 players on the disabled list.  But that's just an estimate on my part, really.  Some of these guys we knew would spend some time on the DL, like Blake and Furcal, and some guys were pretty likely, such as Uribe (because he's old and fat).  But then there's the young guys too.  Broxton, Kuo, Hawksworth, Jansen, De La Rosa, and now, Dee Gordon.  This is just getting ridiculous.  The Dodgers infield now consists of Loney at first (owner of the worst OPS in baseball since the all-star break),  the hitless wonder Eugenio Velez at second, solid-but-bug-eyed Jamey Carroll at short, and Aaron Miles, on loan from a Tolkien novel, at third.  Other than Loney, none of those guys were expected to be regular contributors, or, in Miles and Velez's case, probably not even on the 25 man roster.  This team is clearly snake-bitten with injuries, and though we wrote this season off long ago, it's still a bummer to have the one joy left taken from us, and that is watching a guy like Dee Gordon get a chance to show he can handle the Major Leagues. 

Now, I should add that since Dee Gordon is hurt, it's a good thing that he's going to the disabled list.  That doesn't sound terribly insightful, but too often we see players trying to keep injuries secret and play through them, hurting themselves and the team (I'm looking at you Jonathan Broxton).  With the Dodgers as bad as they are, there is no reason to risk Dee Gordon's long term health by trotting him out there.  This was a good call by the Dodgers, even though they are calling it mostly precautionary.  The hope is that Dee will take the 15 days, get healthy, and then come back and play every day for the rest of the season.  This should still give the team plenty of time to properly evaluate whether or not he's ready to handle the starting job next season. 

In other news, the Dodgers agreed to terms with their first round draft pick, Chris Reed,  and he will be introduced at Dodger Stadium tonight.  He signed for what appears to be a 1.589 signing bonus, which is slightly above slot.  I gotta say, it's nice to see the Dodgers going over slot to get talent.  Last year they did it to get Zach Lee, this year for Reed.  I sort of wonder if McCourt authorized it just to piss Bud Selig off, but either way we'll take it.

Update:  It appears the Dodgers called up shortstop Justin Sellers from Albuquerque to take Gordon's place on the roster.  Sellers doesn't exactly quality as a prospect, as he's 25 years old with a career .746 OPS in the minors, but at least there's some upside there.  Here's hoping he'll get more playing time than Eugenio Velez.

Things we learned from last night's game (8/1)

 Overview: Kershaw goes distance, Dodgers actually score runs.  Dodgers 6 Padres 2

 Pros:  Clayton Kershaw. Probably nothing more needs to be said than just his name anymore, but I'm going to try anyway.  Kershaw pitched another complete game, striking out 4 (a low number for him), walking 2 and surrendering 6 hits.  What does that mean?  This was Kershaw on an off-day, without his best stuff.  Then there's this quote from Kershaw after the game when somebody mentioned he was pitching to contact.  "I hate the term pitch to contact," he said. "I'm not trying to let them hit it."  I seriously love this guy.  Instead of spouting off some useless cliche that we hear all the time like "I just have to grind it out" or some shit like that, he gives a real answer.  I've always hated the term pitch to contact too, Clayton.  The win gives him 13 on the season.  Not that the wins stat mean anything for a pitcher, but I have to admit I'm rooting pretty damn hard for him to reach 20.  If for nothing else, it's something to cheer for this season.  Can you imagine if Kershaw manages to win 20 games and Kemp manages to lead the league in RBI's this season?  Again, those stats are useless in trying to evaluate a player because they're so team dependent, but I think in this case it speaks to just how good these guys are that they can put up these numbers on a team so bad.
Speaking of Kemp, he went 2 for 4 with a double, a triple, an RBI and 2 runs scored.  He also probably would've stolen third if Rod Barajas hadn't selfishly singled him home.
Finally, Carroll went 2 for 3 with a walk, a run scored, and 2 stolen bases.  I mention this mostly because I started him in my fantasy line up and now look like a genius.

Cons:  The biggest con from yesterday is not from the game itself, but the news that Rubby De La Rosa is hurt and might require Tommy John Surgery.  Richard covered that news in an earlier post.  Check it out here.
Other than that, I don't really have anything negative to say about last night.  It was a good win all around.  Even James Loney, who went 0 for 3, proved once and for all that he's a "run producer" with a sacrifice fly.

What we learned:  How fragile young pitching can be.  We wish De La Rosa the best in his recovery, and pray to any God that will listen that Kershaw doesn't go down with some kind of arm injury.  Because that just might kill us.  Literally.

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.