Things we learned from tonight's game (8/6/11)

I love that Steve Lyons continues to ask him questions.  Hard hitting  coverage from Psycho, here.

Overview:  Captain EO gains a nickname and fans seven in his MLB debut, but Dee Gordon leaves with a shoulder injury.  Dodgers win, 5-3.

Pros:  Nathan Eovaldi starts his major league career off in pretty good fashion, going five innings with seven strikeouts.  He also went one for two at the plate, hitting a single and later scoring a run to help his own cause.  Captain EO (hat tip to twitter's own Chad Moriyama and Robert Huitron for that gem) threw 77 pitches and still looked fresh, but was pulled for a pinch hitter in the top of the sixth.  Andre Ethier got his average back over .300 with a two hit game, and he, Rivera, Miles and Barajas (3 for 4?!?) chipped in RBIs.  On the pitching side, Blake Hawksworth threw two perfect innings and Scott Elbert danced around some shaky defense in the ninth to record his second save of the season.

Cons: DEE GORDON GOT HURT.  Thankfully, it doesn't sound like it's a serious injury, as Gordon wasn't wearing a sling and was back in the dugout laughing with the team after a few innings.  But the Dodgers need to see Gordon play every day for the rest of the season, and a lingering shoulder injury would be disastrous for long term planning's sake.  If Ned doesn't trust Gordon by the end of the season, there's a high chance he could do something stupid (Tejada and O. Cab are free agents) or really stupid (Jimmy Rollins for six years and 100 million?) in the offseason.  Also, Matt Guerrier continues to not be very good- starting to get a little more concerned about that three year deal.  

What we learned:  That Nathan Eovaldi will be the starting pitcher five days from now, and five days after that.  It's one start, so Eovaldi mania should be tempered, but it was certainly an encouraging start.  We're looking forward to seeing more.  A quick word of caution to him, though- don't expect five runs of support every time, Nate.

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 last night's game (7/27)

Overview:  Still no run support for Mr. Kuroda.  Rockies 3 Dodgers 1.

Pros:  For the 142nd time this season,Hiroki Kuroda tossed a quality start, going six innings, allowing one run while striking out 6 and walking 3.  That he still got the loss is hardly a surprise anymore.  Other positives from last night?  Well, Kemp had two hits, including a double.  Furcal had two hits as well and actually seems to be heating up (.808 OPS over his last eight games), though he did get caught stealing as well.  The Dodgers, had 8 hits total and still managed just one run on a solo homerun by Rod Barajas in the 9th (what contender needs a catcher with some pop?).  Also, Scott Elbert pitched 2/3 of an inning and struck out one and allowed no runs.  Not really all  that exciting but we're grasping at straws here.

Cons:  The Dodgers were 0-4 with runners in scoring position, once again showing their remarkable ineptitude at driving in runs.  Hawksworth and Macdougal each gave up a run in their innings of  relief (Macdougal actually pitched 1 and 1/3).  Ethier went hitless which should not come as a surprise at this point.  He's been pretty awful in July, posting just a .664 OPS.  Really, there are so many cons here that it gets tiresome to list them.  On the bright side, the four game winning streak is over so hopefully that means nobody at all is convinced that the Dodgers can go on a run.

What we learned:  That once again, if your first or last name starts with a K, you're probably one of the bright spots of the 2011 Los Angeles Dodgers.  

Dioner, not a goner.

To be honest, we didn’t totally hate the Dioner Navarro signing when it happened. Of course, we didn’t have a blog then, so you have no way of knowing if that’s true or not. You’ll have to take our word for it. The team had no immediate future at catcher with the departure of Russell Martin, and Navarro was young enough where there was some hope for a rebound. Maybe all he needed was a change of pace, and a fresh start away from the situation in Tampa Bay? The contract wasn’t even excessive, considering it was from Ned Colletti.

That dream is over. Navarro- with the exception of a couple dramatic walk-off hits, and his magical two pickoff/two caught stealing game- has been bad. Like really, exceptionally bad. His slash line (.183/.234/.287) is so awful that if a younger “unproven” player were performing at that level he would be given a one way ticket to Albuquerque or DFA’d. It’s clear by now that Navarro is not going to rediscover his 2008 form. It’s time to move on.

So tell me why, oh why, was AJ Ellis sent back to AAA to make room for Rod Barajas instead of Navarro being cut? Ellis, with his .364 OBP (part of a total .222/.364/.222 line) has been more productive, not to mention (purely anecdotal evidence) he seems to handle the pitchers better. His biggest strength, getting on base, is something that this team desperately needs, and something neither Navarro nor Rod Barajas can provide.

Look, we’re not saying AJ Ellis is a savior for the Dodgers. Keeping him over Navarro is probably only a marginal improvement, but Ned Colletti still seems to think the Dodgers have a chance at making a run, so why not keep the more productive player? In addition, assuming the Dodgers don’t suddenly start playing like the 1927 Yankees and go on a miracle run, it’s probably a good idea to give Ellis a good amount of at-bats as he’s the only Dodger catcher under team control next year. Giving him a significant amount of playing time would allow management a fair evaluation and possibly save the team from having to spend a couple million dollars on a backup catcher in the offseason.

The other argument, I suppose, is if the Dodgers cut Navarro and Barajas gets hurt again, the team is so thin at the position that JD Closser would be the next option. Our counter argument to that is this: we’re pretty sure even JD Closser can be as bad as Dioner Navarro.