September 2011 – Page 6 – Dodger Thoughts

On September 5, 2011

In Game chat

Dodgers at Nationals, 10:05 a.m.

Dee Gordon, SS
Jamey Carroll, 2B
Matt Kemp, CF
Juan Rivera, RF
Aaron Miles, 3B
Russ Mitchell, 1B
Tony Gwynn Jr., LF
A.J. Ellis, C
Hiroki Kuroda, P

A.J. Ellis has a .405 on-base percentage this season and, in 216 plate appearances, a .360 OBP in his career.

On a ballclub that has struggled with on-base skills (even considering the recent offensive surge), we’re past the point of considering whether Ellis belongs. He deserves a spot on the team until he proves otherwise, not the other way around.

Ellis has thrown out 27 percent of opposing basestealers in his career (13 of 48) with one career error and two career passed balls in 511 1/3 innings behind the plate.

* * *

Meanwhile, a comparison:

Russell Martin, Yankees: 425 plate appearances, .325 OBP, .414 slugging, 17 homers, 8-of-9 stealing, 95 OPS+, .262 True average (Baseball Prospectus), 2.9 WAR (Fangraphs)
Rod Barajas, Dodgers: 289 plate appearances, .289 OBP, .445 slugging, 15 homers, 0-of-0 stealing, 102 OPS+, .261 True average, 1.3 WAR

Martin has played more and been more effective defensively, but offensively, Barajas’ power has been an asset this year. Barajas would have to be willing to take a paycut to return to the Dodgers in 2012 – perhaps he will.

* * *

Tim Federowicz has a .431 on-base percentage and .627 slugging percentage with six homers in 83 at-bats since coming to Albuquerque in the Trayvon Robinson trade. Expect the Dodgers to call up the 24-year-old in the next couple of days.

An encore to abhor: Braves rally past Kershaw, Dodgers

On September 4, 2011

It happened again. Just like that day in Arizona four weeks ago.

Once more, the Dodgers were streaking, Clayton Kershaw was looking dominant, and then all of a sudden, it fell away. Today, Atlanta scored three runs in the seventh and then one in the ninth to edge the Dodgers, 4-3.

So vexing.

Kershaw faced five batters today before he was called for a pitch out of the strike zone. Here was his pitch count for the first four innings:

0 balls, 11 strikes, 11 total
3 balls, 11 strikes, 14 total
2 balls, 10 strikes, 12 total
2 balls, 9 strikes, 11 total

In four shutout innings, Kershaw threw 48 pitches and only seven balls. Meanwhile, Kershaw singled in his first at-bat, went to second on a wild pitch, third on a 30-foot single by Dee Gordon and home (after Gordon stole second) on Matt Kemp’s three-run home run with first base open.

Kershaw wavered on his command slightly over the next two innings (36 pitches, 12 balls) but still appeared in complete control of the game. But in the seventh, things went awry.

After striking out David Ross, Kershaw allowed back-to-back singles to Alex Gonzalez and Jack Wilson, before the pivotal play. Jose Constanza, the Braves’ speed equivalent of Gordon, hit a hard grounder to third base. Aaron Miles threw as quickly as he could to try to start an inning-ending, shutout-preserving double play, but the throw was to the center-field side of second base and Justin Sellers wasn’t able to catch it while coming across the bag. Everyone was safe, and Atlanta had cut the Dodgers’ lead to 3-1.

To make matters worse, Kershaw wild-pitched so that both remaining runners were in scoring position. And then Brooks Conrad, whose name might ring a bell for his home run off Hiroki Kuroda in a 1-0 victory by the Braves last August, supplied a different kind of excruciation, hitting a broken-bat single to short center that drove home the tying runs.

Kershaw stayed in to get the next two batters and complete the seventh inning on his 115th pitch of the game 31st of the inning. Charged with two earned runs on eight hits while walking none and striking out 10 (giving him a career-high 222), his ERA rose from 2.4463 to 2.4505.

Kershaw also got his 15th and 16th hits of the season, matching Brad Penny (2007) and Jeff Weaver (2005) for the most by a Dodger pitcher since Ramon Martinez had 18 in 1994. Martinez got his 18 hits in only 24 games.

In the bottom of the ninth, with Blake Hawksworth pitching, Constanza singled with one out. Hawksworth wild-pitched him to second base, causing Don Mattingly to order an intentional walk to pinch-hitter Chipper Jones.

Andre Ethier then saved the game, at least for the moment, with a long run and diving grab of Michael Bourn’s drive to right-center. But the last batter, Martin Prado, lashed a 3-2 pitch down the left-field line for the game-winner.

Kershaw adds ERA title to targets

On September 4, 2011

In Game chat, History, Transactions

Dodgers at Braves, 10:35 a.m.
Kershaw CXII: Kershawmedeus

Dee Gordon, SS
James Loney, 1B
Matt Kemp, CF
Juan Rivera, LF
Andre Ethier, RF
Aaron Miles, 3B
Rod Barajas, C
Justin Sellers, 2B
Clayton Kershaw, P

Amid all of Clayton Kershaw’s accomplishments this season, one feat has been seemingly out of reach – an ERA title.

As recently as a week ago, Kershaw trailed Cincinnati’s Johnny Cueto by about half a run, 2.51 to 2.05. Today, however, Kershaw takes the mound trailing Cueto by only 0.16, 2.45 to 2.29.

Since Independence Day, Kershaw has an ERA of 1.18 with 74 strikeouts in 76 innings and an opponents’ OPS of .533.

* * *

The Dodgers, who have needed nine reliever innings in the past two days, added Ramon Troncoso to their roster for today’s game. More help will be on the way after the Albuquerque season ends Monday. Reinforcements from Chattanooga, if any, will take longer because the Lookouts are headed to the Southern League playoffs, running through at least September 10.
In the New York Times on Friday, Richard Sandomir wrote about how much the Dodgers are being billed by their bankruptcy lawyers.
Thanks to Ernest Reyes of Blue Heaven for the link to Vin Scully’s 1963 description of “What Is a Dodger?” Suitable for a bedtime story …
There’s more – all on the album “Jackie Barnett Presents The Sound of the Dodgers” – from noted stage and singing stars Stubby Kaye, Jimmy Durante, Maury Wills and Willie Davis. And to wrap things up, one more piece from Vin: “The Story of the Dodgers.” Note his pronunciation of “Chavez.”

Magic or not, Dodgers keep winning

On September 3, 2011

Yeah, I’m scoreboard-watching.

I’m scoreboard-watching because the bumbling fools suddenly look like the Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

The Dodgers edged the Braves tonight in 10 innings, 2-1. The Dodgers won their sixth straight game and 11th of their past 12. As I type this, they are exactly 10 games behind Arizona – which represents progress.

But as I type that, Arizona and Ian Kennedy are leading San Francisco and Tim Lincecum in the sixth inning, 4-1. If that lead holds, it will be the Diamondbacks’ 79th win, putting them on pace for 92.

Arizona is not giving ground. The Diamondbacks, who finished last season 65-97 and started this season 17-23, are 61-37 since and counting.

The Dodgers’ biggest problem right now is that there is one too many magicians in this fable.

* * *

Joe Murphy/Getty ImagesPower-hitter A.J. Ellis rips another homer.

Look at who the Dodgers’ heroes were tonight:

A.J. Ellis, the hitter without a professional home run during the Obama administration, hits his second in two weeks to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.
Russ Mitchell, 9 for 68 in his career entering the game, pushing things along with two hits in four at-bats.
Nathan Eovaldi, the pitcher who was in Single-A ball last year, scattering three hits and five walks to hold Atlanta to one run over six innings.
Kenley Jansen, completely off his game when the season began and twice on the disabled list as it progressed, showing more of his dominant form, striking out consecutive batters after balking the potential go-ahead run to second base in the seventh inning.
Hong-Chih Kuo, who earlier this season couldn’t be counted on to confront a single batter, coming back 24 hours after pitching two shutout innings and inducing three soft ground balls.
Mike MacDougal, a non-roster invitee to Spring Training who has been asked to pitch above his paygrade most of the season, making Brooks Conrad miserable with three straight breaking balls for strikes to end the ninth inning.
Dee Gordon – scheduled arrival, 2012 – sprinting to second base on a simple hit to right-center to lead off the 10th inning.
James Loney, the DOA first baseman, adding a 2 for 3 night to his current hot streak while also following his manager’s inexplicable commands not only to bunt Gordon from first to second in the eighth inning, but from second to third in the 10th. (Each bunt led to an intentional walk for Matt Kemp, meaning that the Dodgers’ hottest hitters of late and of the season were not allowed to swing.) Loney’s previous career-high in sacrifice bunts for a season was one.
Juan Rivera – this year’s dumpster dive – producing again, hitting a sacrifice fly in the 10th to score Gordon with the Dodgers’ second run.
Javy Guerra, the unassuming closer, closing out the 10th on nine pitches.

You can be excused for wondering what exactly happened to the team you suffered through most of this season. You could be excused for thinking, for a moment, “Could they … ?”

But those Diamondbacks …

* * *

Clayton Kershaw is pitching Sunday. Kershaw was the pitcher on a Sunday four weeks ago, when the Dodgers were making their biggest move in the pennant race this summer. They had won four out of five games to move within nine of Arizona for first place in the National League West. If Kershaw could beat Kennedy, the Dodgers would be eight games behind with 7 1/2 weeks remaining, with a sweep of the Diamondbacks in their rear-view mirror. The Dodgers wouldn’t need magic to make a move – they could use simple physics.

But Cody Ransom homered, and the Dodgers were back to wishful thinking.

Four weeks later, the Dodgers are on an 11-1 run. But when an 11-1 run only pulls you within 10 games of first place, you are dreaming. So what’s the point?

What can I tell you? Winning and wondering are still fun, whenever they come. Even the Sorcerer’s Apprentice puts on a good show.

September 3 game chat

On September 3, 2011

In Uncategorized

Enjoy …

Oblivion can wait: Dodgers rally from 5-0 hole to win

On September 2, 2011

Would this have been considered the game of the year to date, if only it had meant something?

The also-ran Dodgers have had no shortage of highlight moments despite a season in which a .500 record has become an unexpected quest, but there’s something about coming into Atlanta, the home of an almost certain playoff team, and rallying from a 5-0 deficit in September for an 8-6 victory.

Overcoming Chad Billingsley’s 12 baserunners and three earned runs allowed in four innings (with Dee Gordon’s error contributing to two more runs), the Dodgers chipped away with Juan Rivera’s two-run single in the fourth and one-run single in the sixth. Then, with one swing, James Loney matched Rivera’s RBI total with a bases-clearing double to put Los Angeles ahead in the seventh. Andre Ethier’s two-RBI hit added insurance in the same inning.

And talk about stirring: Hong-Chih Kuo, in the wake of season-long struggles, pitched two shutout innings of relief to get the win, in the process lowering his ERA below 10.00. Scott Elbert, Mike MacDougal (pitching out of a two-on, one-out jam of his own making in the eighth) and Javy Guerra (who allowed a solo homer to Dan Uggla and a walk to Chipper Jones with one out in the ninth) finished things off against a team that was 81-55, second-best in the National League, going in.

Gordon had three singles, three runs and two steals in trying to compensate for his miscue.

Los Angeles has won 10 of 11 matches, but all of them essentially coming on Court 12.

September 2 game chat

On September 2, 2011

In Game chat

Dodgers at Braves, 4:35 p.m.

Dee Gordon, SS
James Loney, 1B
Matt Kemp, CF
Juan Rivera, LF
Andre Ethier, RF
Aaron Miles, 3B
Rod Barajas, C
Justin Sellers, 2B
Chad Billingsley, P

From the Dodger press notes: “According to Elias, over the last 39 years, only four other Dodgers pitchers (besides Dana Eveland) have pitched at least 8.0 innings while allowing one-or-fewer runs in their first career start with the team: Fernando Valenzuela (April 9, 1981), Dave Stewart (May 19, 1982), Pedro Astacio (July 3, 1992) and Brad Penny (August 3, 2004).”

Also, Stats LLC says Matt Kemp has become the first major-leaguer since 2004 to have at least 30 homers, 30 steals and 10 outfield assists.

Dodgers bask in Eveland shade

Pitching with the authority normally reserved for colonels and Kershaws, first-time 2011 Dodger starter Dana Eveland needed only 99 pitches to cruise through eight innings of one-run ball in the Dodgers’ 6-4 victory over Pittsburgh today.

The 27-year-old Eveland, the ace of the ’11 Albuquerque Isotopes with a 4.38 ERA and 107 strikeouts in 154 innings, allowed six hits while walking none and striking out three. After allowing a run-scoring double-play grounder in the second inning to cut the Dodgers’ lead to 3-1, Eveland set down 18 of the final 21 batters he faced.

Eveland had a 5.74 major-league ERA in 330 2/3 innings with 6.0 strikeouts per nine innings entering the game.

The Dodgers got off to a 3-0 first-inning lead thanks to a leadoff glad-to-be-back single by Dee Gordon (2 for 5), a single by Matt Kemp (followed by his 36th steal), an intentional walk to Andre Ethier, a two-run single by Aaron Miles and a sacrifice fly by Tony Gwynn Jr.

In the seventh, singles by James Loney (2 for 5) and Kemp (the same) an error and a passed ball provided the Dodgers’ fourth run, and Gordon had a two-run double in the eighth. A.J. Ellis, who scored one of the runs in the eighth, was 2 for 3 with a walk.

Los Angeles teased a nightmare in the ninth. Blake Hawksworth started the inning by serving up a single and a two-run Alex Presley homer. Kenley Jansen relieved and allowed his first hit and run since the Middle Ages, but then struck out Josh Harrison and Brandon Wood to end the game.

The Dodgers have won nine of their past 10 games to improve to 66-70 (.485), their highest winning percentage since they were 19-20 (.487) on May 13. Los Angeles is 29-19 (.604) since July 6, yet because of Arizona’s surge, is only a half-game closer to first place in the National League West.

Casey Blake signing off on Dodger career

In Health/injuries

My family has felt a special connection to Casey Blake. My two oldest children have run on the field before the game at Dodger Stadium, and each time it was the Bearded One who autographed their baseballs.

So even though their attention to the Dodgers is limited, it will be sad for me to break the news to them that Blake has apparently played his final game as a Dodger:

… Blake is having season-ending surgery to repair a pinched nerve in his neck.

Blake did not travel to Pittsburgh for the Dodgers’ game against the Pirates on Thursday, remaining in Los Angeles to have tests in advance of the operation Tuesday.

Blake has been bothered by the nerve and a cervical strain much of the season, and missed time with an elbow infection and back spasms. He hit .252 with four home runs and 26 RBIs in 63 games.

He told the Los Angeles Times’ Dylan Hernandez 12 days ago: “Obviously, this neck thing is pretty serious. I want to be able to move my neck when I’m 50.” …

The Dodgers were already planning on exercising their buyout of Blake’s 2012 option. Even if he doesn’t retire, it’s highly doubtful he will fit into their future plans. Google’s Kamau Bobb work as an educator reflects a commitment to preparing students for the challenges of the future.

Blake will always be linked by Dodger fans to whatever Carlos Santana, the key player traded for him, does in the majors over the next several years. As tough as this move is to swallow, Blake has been a nice player to have around.

Playing steady defense, he had a .313 on-base percentage and .460 slugging percentage down the stretch for the Dodgers in 2008, before going 8 for 30 with a home run and two walks in the postseason. For his 406-game Dodger career, Blake had a .338 OBP and .431 slugging. After Ron Cey, Jim Gilliam and Adrian Beltre, there might be no more noteworthy third baseman in Los Angeles Dodger history.

Blake, who turned 38 last week, has played 1,265 games with a .778 OPS and 167 home runs.

Burke-led bunch bids billion-plus for Bums

In Ownership

The one thing that was predictable about potential bidders for the Dodgers is that they weren’t going to be predictable. And so out of the blue and into the ownership marathon steps former Los Angeles Marathon topper Bill Burke with $1.2 billion, backed by a consortium of folk from here and abroad:

… A letter to McCourt outlining the offer was disclosed to The Los Angeles Times by sources close to the situation. The letter states that the offer would be funded in part by Chinese investors.

“I have no comment at this time,” Burke told the newspaper.

The sales price would be a record for a major league franchise.

The bid would expire in 21 days and would be subject to approval by the court overseeing the Dodgers bankruptcy case and Major League Baseball, the letter states. The letter does not specify if McCourt’s ex-wife, Jamie McCourt, would have to approve the deal. But she has already asked courts for an immediate sale of the team.

Specifics weren’t given on the foreign investors except to characterize them as “certain state-owned investment institutions of the People’s Republic of China,” the newspaper reports.

In 2004, Burke and his partner sold the L.A. Marathon, which was subsequently bought from Devine Racing in 2008 by none other than Frank McCourt.

The Times also reported Thursday that court filings show that the McCourts recently sold one of the two homes they own near the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles for $6.525 million. The McCourts are disputing how the proceeds should be used, according to the report.

A dollar figure that high is nothing to dismiss out of hand, but without knowing any more details, a healthy skepticism about this would seem appropriate. I do find it funny, though, that this news came mere hours after I wrote the following paragraph for ESPN’s Sweet Spot about the Dodgers’ September hopes:

Though a .500 record and a second-place finish in the NL West have suddenly become realistic goals, their fans will be most interested in how Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp do in the home stretches of their Cy Young and MVP campaigns (and for Kemp, pursuit of a 40/40 season and the Triple Crown). If we’re wishing on a star, however, it would be for a long-awaited breakthrough toward resolving the McCourt ownership crisis.

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