Dodger Thoughts

Jon Weisman's outlet for dealing psychologically with the Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball and life

One-run fun

Dodgers at Giants, 7:15 p.m.
Dee Gordon, SS
Elian Herrera, LF
Andre Ethier, RF
Juan Rivera, 1B
Jerry Hairston Jr. 2B
A.J. Ellis, C
Juan Uribe, 3B
Tony Gwynn Jr., CF
Nathan Eovaldi, P

To set up the three-game series between the Giants and Dodgers that starts tonight with the Giants exactly three games out of first place in the National League West, I participated in ESPN.com’s Triple Play feature with Molly Knight and Christina Kahrl. Here’s an excerpt:

1. What’s the one thing baseball fans should be watching for in this series?

Jon Weisman (@dodgerthoughts), Dodger Thoughts: Nail-biters. The Dodgers and Giants are first and third in the majors in one-run games played this year — each with winning records (18-13 for the Dodgers, 16-11 for the Giants). Much will be made of the starting pitching for both teams, but odds are this series will be decided by the two teams’ bullpens.

I have hereby set one of the teams up for a 12-1 slaughter.

For more reading, here’s a series preview from Grant Brisbee of McCovey Chronicles. I don’t know that I buy his premise that this is the first serious Giants-Dodgers series in a while, but it’s still, as always with Brisbee, an entertaining read.

The cherry on top is Sam Miller’s piece today at Baseball Prospectus, where he chronicles everything Vin Scully has ever said on the air about Buster Posey.

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175 Comments

  1. Adam Luther

    When I hear on of those Scully short anecdotes about a player it always reminds me of backs of 1950’s Topps cards…”In the off season so-and-so sings at the opera.”

    • foul tip

       Former 3B Richie Hebner worked as a gravedigger in the offseason in a family business.

      He hit 203 career HR,  and turned in a career OPS of 119 with a slash line of  .352/.438/.790

      At current age 64, Las Vegas oddsmakers have him at even money to do as well as a certain current Dodger 3B.  

      • Welllll…I’ll be shoveling off now…

      • Anonymous

        I never heard this family business before and I would like to cast some small doubt on it.
        “Hebner was also known for working as a gravedigger at a cemetery run by his father and brother Dennis.” is from his Wikipedia entry. I don’t think “run by” means it was a family business. I say this to preserve my image of Hebner as a poor, tough kid.

        • foul tip

          This says he got $35 a grave, so your poor, tough kid image still may stand.

          It also says he got his first hit off Bob Gibson and wanted to ask for the ball but was afraid to because Gibson looked so vicious.

          And homered on his final big-league swing.  Also relates that when the end came Dallas Green told him it was time to go dig graves in the summer as well as winter.  Cold, if true….

          http://oldbucs.blogspot.com/2009/11/grave-digger-richie-hebner.html

    • Anonymous

      Pirate third baseman Richie Hebner was a gravedigger.

  2. Adam Luther

    Classic Rick Monday yesterday commenting on players having trouble with balls in the sun:

    “They don’t need sunglasses today, they need a welding helmet.”

  3. Hey Jon, you have a typo in your first line up there…. I think we are unanimously agreed it’s “gnats” and not “Giants.” Can you fix that, please?

  4. Definitely *should* be low-scoring, close games, given these team’s offenses, pitching, history, and the park, among other things. If history is any indication, too, I expect Eovaldi to lose tonight 2-1. :(    On the other hand, Zito is pitching… and Eo wasn’t quite as sharp last time out, so perhaps, 7-6. 

  5. Anonymous

    I don’t find Brisbee all that entertaining. I guess I’m spoiled by the quality here.  Not only Jon’s writing, but the links he references and the overall intelligence of most posters.

  6. Jon…in your Triple Play, Christina Kahrl has an interesting suggestion regarding Edwin Encarnacion. I would think that Toronto would want prospects the Dodgers just don’t have. It would seem to me that one of the young bullpen arms plus one of the Albuquerque Grab Bag (Sands, Van Slyke, et al) would be required. Encarnacion is having a career year at age 29 (.282/.355/573), and wouldn’t require a long term commitment. Thoughts from anybody?

    • I don’t think Toronto will deal him when in a pennant race.

      • I agree with you…but that AL Wild Card…even the 2nd Wild Card, could be hard to reach as the season goes on and the trading deadline nears…and he will probably not re-sign there next season. However, they’re only 3 out now. It does bear watching….

    • Anonymous

      I think it is a possibility once Toronto knows it can’t even grab a wild card.  I would expect them to be buyers rather than sellers.
       
      More intriguing if SD really wants to build longer term and would be interested in moving Chase Headley.

      • Dale. Chase Headley is one of my top arguments that i have with stats people. he’s played two full seasons and in those seasons he did not match loney in of the traditional or production stats. I think he’s hopelessly oveerrated by the sabre.

        • Anonymous

          No real argument on the Loney comparison, but he is reasonably priced, wouldn’t take a fortune to acquire, plays good defense, and represents an improvement over the current situation.
           
          If I’m San Diego, I’m trading with anyone until I feel ready to compete.

          • Headley is considered one of the most valuable young players in baseball. I’d take him in a heartbeat. He’s good on defense too, but unlike Loney, is good with the bat, even in Petco.  Let’s just say I beg to differ, BUT I also don’t like intradivisional trades, Dodgers are likely to get fleeced so it’d still make me nervous. 

      • would i take him over uribe? sure. but within the division, well, if i’m san diego i’m not helping the dodgers period.

    • Anonymous

      We dumped Mondesi on them.  We got Shawn Green from them.  What more recent deals have we made with them?  Encarnacion sounds tempting.

    • Anonymous

      he doesn’t play in the field much for , I believe, good reason.

  7. Ok I’m fascinated by how people value prospects differently especially the sabre kids. In general prospects are way over rated. Yet when one hits well it’s on your resume forever good or bad. In that spirit i offer this trade for your perusal. 

    The twins GM is on record as saying he’s desperate for pitchers. Almost any pitchers.

    I offer Lindblom/Tolleson No.8, Allen Webster No., 2, Garrett Gould No. 10 and Van Slyke No.17/Josh Wall No. 16 for Josh Willingham and his long-term contract. 

    / means OR. No. refers to prospect rating by milb.

    fire away.

    • Anonymous

      Willingham’s a decent player, right out of the Casey Blake mold, but overpriced at $7mil +.  I could see one player on your list plus a lower level prospect, but with your proposal, I can hear folks screaming about the Santana trade again.

      • some people are trying to make the case that his recent stats are equal to Ethier and thus that makes him relatively cheap.

      • Willingham’s way, WAY better than Casey Blake ever was. He’d be worth it…absolutely. If you look at his lifetime stats, he’s basically Andre Ethier playing a more valuable defensive position.

        • Anonymous

          Not saying I wouldn’t do it, but he is a leftfielder, who makes Juan Rivera look like a gazelle.

          • My bad…I had him fixed in my tiny little mind as a 3rd baseman. That said…I’d still do the deal.

          • Anonymous

            You are probably thinking of Ty Wiggington.

        • Anonymous

          You have expressed an original thought that, therefore, should be defended (by you). LF is a more valuable defensive position than RF. In Little League yes, in MLB no

        • Anonymous

          In 2003,2004, and 2009 Blake’s WAR was higher than any of Willingham’s (partly because, I venture, Willingham plays a position so easy to replace the player)

    • I agree that folks tend to overrate prospects, particularly the prospects of the team they root for :) I think a lot of us remember when Al Campanis had us all convinced that Candy Maldonado was Roberto Clemente, and that Greg Brock was Lou Gehrig. I mean…there are prospects…and then there’s Mike Trout (I don’t believe we have any of those lying around). If you look at your list, the only one I’d MAYBE be adverse to trading is Gould, because even though he’s struggling in High A ball, he’s a 20 year old pitching in an extreme hitters league. Webster is 22, in Double A, and getting lit up, with bad peripherals. I don’t think it would take a 4 player haul to get Willingham, in part because of his contract, but it would probably take a young major league bullpen arm, plus 1 of the higher rated prospects you mentioned (Gould or Webster?). I’m not overly afraid of Willingham’s contract, even at 33. After this year, he’ll have two years at $7 Million per year left. As Tom Hagan would say, “Make the deal, Sonny”.

      • well i take a harsh look at prospects. in that group there’s only 1 major leaguer for sure. and he’s not one that’s going to change the value of the club much.

        Gould is a relatively soft tosser, etc. If I’m the Twin GM I want at least one guy who has the potential to be a valuable major leaguer. i’m not sure there’s one in there so he might take quantity of high numbered prospects to overcome that. It’s possible they take three of them for the deal. but if I’m the dodger gm and have a chance to solidify my outfield  and bolster my weak offense i’m doing it. because making the playoffs is going to be tight. and because as you say none of those guys are Trout. Or Santana.

      • Anonymous

        And we all know what happened to Sonny!

    •  I’d love to get him in 9 seasons he has an OPS+ of 124. In 7 seasons Ethier has an OPS+ of 125. He can play 1b and left field. 7 million for him for this year and the next 2 seasons..8 million this year and next year for  for Uribe? or 6.5 for Loney? ya give me Willingham for sure.

  8. Anonymous

    I would do any one of the three trades. Willingham hits as well as Ethier but is signed to a very reasonable contract. Definitely worth giving up a reliever prospect or two. I don’t think rebuilding teams view relief pitching so highly and that’s why I doubt the twins make the trade.

    • sorry i wasn’t clear. i’m offering 4 players. either tolleson or lindblom, webster, gould and van slyke or Wall.

    • Anonymous

      This would make sense for LA, but I agree with your evaluation from a Minnesota perspective.

  9. Anonymous

    Go Dodgers!  Beat the Giants! A 1st place at the All-star break would be quite the achievement. 

    Vernon Wells, Hisanori Takahashi, and Maicer Izturis for James Loney, Juan Uribe, and Josh Lindblom

    • Vernon Wells? And his contract? Get thee behind me, Satan!

      • Anonymous

        I’ll sweeten the deal then.

        Vernon Wells, Hisanori Takahashi, a bag of balls, and Maicer Izturis for James Loney, Juan Uribe, Chad Billingsley, and Josh Lindblom

        • Anonymous

          Why do you have to go lump Josh Lindblom in with all those spare parts? 

          • Anonymous

            In other words, the Angels give up three bags of balls plus one Gianni Versace ball-portmanteau (wells) in exchange for three Samsonites and Lindblom?

        • Ah man, no offense amigo, but not sure I trust someone who is both an Angels and Dodgers fan to make a trade between those two teams. ;) 

  10. Headley was WAY more productive last year AND this year than Loney. OPS+ of 121 and 125 versus Loney’s 110 and 83. And Headley is doing it in an extreme pitchers park. However, I do agree that there’s no way San Diego trades him in the division.

    • I think the pitcher’s park thing is overstated for a guy like Headley who has little power. there’s nothing about the field that stops him from getting base hits, etc. Adrian didn’t have any problem getting great stats. 

      • There’s a wide gulf between Adrian Gonzalez and either Headley OR Loney. We can all agree on that. My point was that since the beginning of 2011, Headley has been a far better offensive player than Loney. It isn’t even close.

        • headley did not play full seasons either in 2011 or this year. the two full seasons 2009, 2010, he was of little note whatsoever. or loney-like.if you prefer.

          • Last year he played in 113 games, and compiled an OPS of .773 to Loney’s .755. This year Headley has basically played in every game (72 games), with a .789 OPS. Loney has appeared in 70 games, with a robust .654. This year, Loney has 2 homers…Headley has 7. As I said, not even close.

          • i will be happy to compare at the end of the season. and if the best he can do is .773 against Loney’s 755 i will rest my case. why bother with Chase Headley?

          • Anonymous

            You can rest your case, but I thought the idea was for him to replace Uribe’s .550 OPS?

          • I could replace Uribe’s 587 OPS. I don’t know what’s wrong with a platoon of Hairston/Herrera.

          • No…the best he can do is .789 against Loney’s .654. Or as Bob_Hendley pointed out, .789 versus Uribe’s .587. That’s why you’d bother with Headley.

          • if you want to buy a 3baseman why not buy a good one.

  11. foul tip

    Speaking of Toronto, what about 1B Adam Lind?  He was awful earlier, so much so they sent him to Vegas, where his numbers spiked (PCL).  He won a Silver Slugger in ’09 but has slipped some the last couple seasons. 

    This says he might become trade bait if he does well after being recalled yesterday, in view of Encarnacion’s situation.  Last 3 season HR totals of 35, 23, and 26 get your attention, somewhat.

    http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/story/?id=399203

    • Yes, please. And Toronto just lost yet another pitcher. Wonder how desperate they are now… 

      See: 
      Mike Petriello ‏@mike_petriello: Toronto down to Romero & some Maple Leafs in the rotation. Can’t last long in the AL East like that. Edwin Encarnacion, possible LA target?

  12. Anonymous

    When Mark Ellis is being reffered to as the Dodgers #2 hitter in articles about Matt Kemp, it gets very confusing, and rather misleading and downright stupid.

  13. Anonymous

    When was the last time we played our first series in SF this late in the season?  Usually it’s a early season treat.

  14. foul tip

    OT but maybe good for a smile.  A small si.com item talks about Kentucky football coach Joker Phillips possibly being in trouble after only two years, and other Wildcat grid woes.

    The picture running beside the item?  Kentucky basketball’s John Calipari.

    Maybe they didn’t even have one of Phillips?  Or, since it’s Kentucky sports, the only picture that matters is Calipari’s?

    Would this happen with any other school?

    • Anonymous

      It’s the other way around, but I doubt many people at the USC campus would be able to identify Kevin O’Neill, but lots of people can pick out Lane Kiffin.

      Does anyone know what Duke’s football coach (goes and checks … David Cutcliffe!) looks like?

      • foul tip

         Peyton and Eli Manning sure do, since he was OC at UT for Peyton and head coach at Ole Miss when Eli led their best teams in years.  Both are highly complimentary of him and stay in touch regularly.  But Duke football is… Duke football, to Cutcliffe’s chagrin.

        Of course, Ole Miss fired Cutcliffe after several good seasons, in large part because he refused to let boosters have the say in who his assistants would be.

        Ole Miss has done just peachy since that brilliant move, compounded by a couple others about as smart…

        • Anonymous

          But Duke did host the Rose Bowl once.

          • foul tip

             And the world-famous Pelican Bowl.

            The Grateful Dead and Rolling Stones made other one-shot appearances.

            Should we wait with bated breath to see who or what comes there next?

  15. I won’t be at any of these games in SF this week (hope to hit one of the later series), so no one can blame me if they lose. ;)  (I was at 2 out of 3 of the A’s games last week.)

  16. KT

    http://tinyurl.com/6ryfqvk
    Nice read and I think good news

    •  ”It seems silly to me, honestly. He’s not ready to play yet, he’s still
      going through the process of running bases and running curves. We’re
      talking about an All-Star game, we’re talking about practice.” -Don Mattingly about Kemp doing his best Allen Iverson.

  17. Jon

    I just added your rss feed to my page. maybe i should have asked permission first. What do you think?

  18. Anonymous

    Zach Lee up to AA

  19. Anonymous

    I was hoping for Herrera at third and Abreu in LF tonight. Zito OPS vs L 614; vs R 807 so RHH’s called for but Uribe is 2 for 21 against Zito lifetime with 7 K; 0 for 5 with 2 K as a LAD;also Uribe, unlike most RHH hits RHP better than LHP-not just this season when he is 7 for 43 vs L. Another also-Abreu went 2 for 3 against Zito on May 7, Uribe 0 for 2 with a walk.

  20. KT

    Good eye Dee way to work a walk

  21. KT

    did anyone notice how wet the line from 1st to 2nd is?

  22. Christopher Staaf

    Can we please get a break for Eovaldi?? 

  23. EO is my guy but he needs better command.

  24. well Jon did jinx the dodgers. 12-1 here we come.

  25. Christopher Staaf

    I don’t like our chances tonight. 

  26. foul tip

    At his request, Orioles release Miguel Tejada from a minor league contract.  He hadn’t done much.

    But as a 2002 MVP with career numbers of .285, 304 HR, and 1,282 RBIs, he’ll show up on Ned’s radar. 

    As a replacement for Kennedy, maybe.  Otherwise, might it be best to take away Ned’s cell temporarily?

    • Anonymous

      He had 4 XBH all 2B in 147 PA with 7 GIDP at AAA for Balt. Loneyesque

  27. KT

    Good play Tony

  28. KT

    Loney would have had that one but Dee needed to take more time

    • Anonymous

      Double yep.

    • Christopher Staaf

      Loney definitely would have had that one. I won’t say anything bad about young Dee. I think the previous posts from others on this site have done so enough. I still want to know why he’s leading off though :(

      • KT

        As my esteemed colleague wrote “Double yep”

    • Anonymous

      Why isn’t Loney palying. Is rivera that good a hitter?

      •  Loney is that bad if a hitter I guess. In June his OPS is .571…Rivera is .698.  Rivera is also OPS’ing .952 at clean up where he is tonight. I am all for defense first though but come on Loney you gotta at least hit to your career avg which isn’t that great anyhow but much better than he is doing now.

        • Anonymous

          good post but look at Zito’s splits also. RHH should play against him.

  29. bcmaiden

    Defense at 1st doesn’t matter. LOL All you Loney detractors. Our lineup looks so little league compared to them and most others. 

    • It does matter. So does offense.  

      • bcmaiden

        If you don’t have bats then defense is MOST important. I was being facetious. Rivera needs to stay in LF and Loney @ 1st.

        • Anonymous

          During a poor play it is easy to see a good play in your mind, you can’t see a Rivera double while Loney is GIDP 

  30. Anonymous

    A trilple play ball in front of the plate!

  31. KT

    U-less is throwing batting practice

    • KT

      Enjoy your shower EO…you’ll get them next time

  32. Christopher Staaf

    I have a feeling Nathan just bought himself a ticket back to the minors. Maybe one more start this weekend against the Mets. 

    • Anonymous

      Not so fast, he hasn’t pitch poorly at all.  And who would you replace him with?

      • Christopher Staaf

        Good call Bob. Lilly isn’t exactly ready to come back yet. 

  33. Anonymous

    Halfway to Jon’s 12-1 slaughter.  Now, it would require us to score a run (I say save them!)

  34. KT

    wow no shower…ok

  35. Anonymous

    Let’s go get Zito!  He did give up 8 runs in his last start.

    • KT

      I like that…was it at home or away?

    •  17 runs in his last 14 innings I believe and 5 homeruns. He must be stoked to face this triple A lineup

  36. Anonymous

    Giants have got to be exhausted by now…..GO NATHAN!

  37. KT

    Sanchez bailed him out there

  38. KT

    good inning…time for some runs

    To come back from this deficit would break morale for the series I think

  39. KT

    Come on Dee make good throws please

  40. KT

    Another 1-2-3…Come on Bats!!

  41. KT

    2/3 of the way to Jon’s score

  42. KT

    Ethier stared him down after the hit in the head

    • Christopher Staaf

      We better answer back before this game ends. 

      • KT

        A slow curve ball? You want to start a war?

        • Christopher Staaf

          Might as well. We need something to jump start this team! 

          • KT

            The way i look at it is it wasn’t intentional and if we start throwing at them it’s a long season with many more games and one of our stars (kemp after he comes back) could get hurt (broken finger / whatever) and we could lose them for a long period or the season

          • Christopher Staaf

            That slow curve ball still hurts…and it was very close to Ethier’s head. That first pitch to Dee looked bad too.  I understand you don’t want be headhunters but the pitchers need to protect the guys. 

          • Anonymous

            It’d be more entertaining than watching this team hit, that’s for sure.

  43. KT

    Nice play Jerry

  44. Why is Andre mad..it’s probably the only way he can get on base against a lefty..

  45. Anonymous

    Barry Zito????
    Really?
    Barry Freaking Zito?????
    Brutal.

    • Anonymous

      This lineup was no-hit by a bunch of no-names in seattle, any hit they get is a minor miracle.

  46. KT

    good it’s not a 1 hitter anymore

    • Christopher Staaf

      Please let this game be the low point of the season. Please!!!

      (You have to admit, getting shut out by Zito is really bad) 

  47. were about to lose 11 of our last 16 in San Fran. It’s tough to take.

  48. KT

    Sure glad this game was on PT instead of  KCAL….I would have had to put up with the Gnats homers like I do tomorrow

  49. KT

    I don’t know why the Gnats fans boo Uribe…He’s an asset to them

  50. Anonymous

    Lol, the clowns in frisco had a “Bet LA” sign. Why thank you for your support gnats fans.

  51. KT

    Hope they lose him for the series

    • Anonymous

      Then we won’t have to see those stupid painted fingernails

  52. I missed this whole game, but I’m gonna hear about it from all these gnat fans that I know up here… Alas…

    Could somebody throw some Icy Hot on Kemp and get him going? How much longer is he out?

    • KT

      in the article jon posted above they want to give him 6 games rehab so probably after the ASG

  53. Anonymous

    Well Vinny always call it the collision.  In this case we were completely flattened.  Kind of like that cartoon with the steam roller.

    Every run scored was earned!

    • KT

      that’s because you can’t anticipate a DP

      • Anonymous

        And yet you can anticipate one out.  I have always found that to be strange.  Suddenly we can’t trust the judgement of the scorer?

  54. Blue-eyed Gal

    Well, on the bright side, it wasn’t a 12-1 slaughter.

  55. A forgettable game tonight. Eovaldi is a curious pitcher. Throws 95-97 consistently and yet can’t miss many bats. I’m sure they’ve worked with him on another pitch…but which one? Changeup? Cutter? Slider? A two-seamer?

  56. So the highlight of the game last night, if you could call it that, came with 2 outs in the ninth yesterday, with Giants fans holding up huge letters which spelled out `B E T LA.

  57. foul tip

    Last night was EO’s first real woofer, even if he didn’t pitch as badly as the score makes it appear.

    All pitchers have them. But his may be magnified because of the whom it was against and that it was on the road.

    Not to mention his relative inexperience.

    Wish I didn’t have to suspect that last night makes it more likely the Dodger step up the starting pitching search with an eye toward replacing him.

    He shouldn’t have to worry one bit, unless he suddenly becomes ineffective and turns in several bad starts.  But he–and we–do.

    • Anonymous

      At the same time, Eovaldi wasn’t pitching as well as the scores made it appear. As pointed out above, Eovaldi just doesn’t miss bats.

  58. Anonymous

    I blame Jon. :-)
    “I have hereby set one of the teams up for a 12-1 slaughter.”

  59. Anonymous

    As soon as I saw the chopper from Pagan bounce off 1st base over Rivera’s head (after a jammed pop-up fell in for a hit by Cabrera) in the 1st inning, I had a feeling it just wouldn’t be the Dodger’s night. Hopefully, the Dodgers can put this one behind them and score some runs for Kershaw tonight. Then, pull out the 3rd game and all will be well.

  60. Another Cuban prospect who intrigues me, may be available very soon: Puig is his name. Considered closer to ready than Soler, and not as close as Cespedes. Would like the Dodgers to go for him.

    And I still want Chase Headley. Everyone other than Zach Lee, Chris Reed and lower level high ceiling guys like Pederson, should be made available.

    • Anonymous

      I would only go Zach Lee for David Wright straight up to give the Dodgers a lineup of…

      1. Abreu LF
      2. Loney 1B
      3. Wright 3B
      4. Kemp CF
      5. Ethier RF
      6. AJ Ellis C
      7. M Ellis 2B
      8. Gordon SS

      • Anonymous

        mets would laugh at a wright/zach lee straight up trade.  we’re over-valuing our own prospects here.  nowhere i’ve read that projects zach lee to be a top of the rotation starter recently.

        • Anonymous

          Throw in a bag of balls and Uribe to play 3B for them.

  61. Re Headley:  Just one blurb on how he ranks, and keep in mind the Dodgers have no one near as good at 3B right now, not til maybe they sign Seager and wait 5 years. 

    {via MLBTR} The 28-year-old Headley has hit .269/.373/.415 with seven homers and eight steals this season. The switch-hitter quietly owns a career .300/.366/.444 batting line away from Petco Park and his defense at the hot corner is well-regarded. FanGraphs says he’s been the 13th most valuable position player* in baseball this season at 3.0 wins above replacement, or WAR.
    *http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=8&season=2012&month=0&season1=2012&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&players=0

    {cue VODF to call me a stat nerd}

    • Anonymous

      Headley would work, mi amigo :)

      • again i’m not buying the petco issue here. there’s no reason he shouldn’t be able to hit in a place he plays half his games in. the WAR rating is meaningless to me. he has no power, he’s never drivin runs in despite being in a favorable spot in the lineup. his stat line is so what. he doesn’t hit well but i guess he’s a good walker. is he better than the dodger 3b choices. ok sure. make a trade offer for him.

        • Anonymous

          Who hits in Petco?

          • what does the home run issues have to do with singles, doubles, etc. as discussed before i don’t think the ball park is configured in a way that stops you from hitting line drives. or from bloopers falling in. or hitting balls down the line. on infield singles, etc.

          • Anonymous

            Ok, you win. Let’s get right. I mean, Wright!

          • i’m interested to see what the Chase supporters would offer for him. I offered this at Tragic. Me being the Padres. Give me Eovaldi and Telleson and Herrera and you can have him. they all jumped on it. what do you think.

    • Anonymous

      In DS, he is .327/.409/.509.  Just getting him to stop playing against us would be a benefit!

    • Anonymous

      Headley is a mediocre hitter who has to play exceptional defense at 3B to be valuable. In seasons when he’s had .320-.330 BABIP, his wRC+ hovers around 100 (league average hitter after adjusting for park effects). He also carries a career road BABIP of .370. Now, PetCo suppresses BABIP, but I doubt his super high BABIP in 29 parks outside of PetCo results from something he himself controls.
      He is putting together a great season so far, but there is no reason to expect he has suddenly raised his level of play at the age of 28. If we trade for him (and it will take at least Zach Lee to even get the Padres to listen), we would be buying extremely high on a player who has a proven track-record of not being a very good hitter.

      • Anonymous

        How much of a factor is his LD rate? Seems to have high BABIP on fly balls as well.

        • Anonymous

          I don’t think it matters, bob. No one sustains .370 BABIP, let alone just on the road. And if his LD rate somehow gave him that ungodly BABIP, his home BABIP should be well above avg as well, which it isn’t.

          • Anonymous

            Didn’t Headley make the same running mistake twice in a game at DS last year? He ran into two dp’s. Even Lyons got on him.

  62. Anonymous

    Tonight’s the night for Kid K to become Stopper K.  And that may require a shutout, Koufax/Drysdale/Hershiser style.  Or perhaps giving up one run tops.

    Mood music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysWzPxhiGuI

  63. foul tip

    What’s wrong with this picture?  Guess if you’re a Cub stuff like this is to be expected.–

    http://lastangryfan.com/2012/06/this-wardrobe-malfunction-on-travis-woods-helmet-may-be-the-most-cubs-thing-ever/

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