Dodger Thoughts

Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A. sums up how pathetic the Dodger offense has been in the second half of 2010: .301 on-base percentage, .325 slugging percentage. You’ll note that Matt Kemp, sitting so that Jay Gibbons can get some at-bats (according to Joe Torre), is not exactly the only problem. The point again being, if you’re going to start looking for platoon advantages with Kemp, why not look for them with other Dodgers who have left something to be desired lately.

Or, just let your best players develop.

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• Manny Ramirez’s first professional baseball game since July 16 is set for tonight with Single-A Inland Empire, 7:05 p.m.
• A wish may come true for Phil Gurnee of True Blue L.A.
• Bobby Thomson once said that a better hitter would have let the pitch go by for a ball.
• “Drysdale Nearly Maimed, Then Loses”
• John Wooden had a hole-in-one and a double eagle in the same round of golf in 1939, according to a story first reported by Jill Painter of the Daily News.

From the Dodger press notes: “The Dodgers’ last extra-base hit was center fielder Matt Kemp’s two-run homer in the seventh inning on Thursday night and since then they have hit 21 straight singles. In fact, 14 of the club’s 15 hits on Thursday were singles meaning that 30 of their last 31 hits have been for one base.”

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Chad Moriyama of Memories of Kevin Malone has two weekend posts worth noting. Today’s is a straightforward “be careful what you wish for” about Russell Martin’s absence, because A.J. Ellis and Brad Ausmus aren’t doing the job at all. The other is a deeper post about coaching and challenging players. Really worth a read.

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Another good read is Tim Kurkjian’s piece at ESPN.com on ending his remarkable, two-decade habit of clipping box scores.

This one goes out to Dodger fans, who have had to get used to more losing this season than they would have liked.

It’s bugging me that Scott Podsednik is playing today and Matt Kemp is not. Joe Torre told reporters today that Kemp is “reaching — he has no patience at the plate.” Maybe so, but what can you say of Podsednik, whose offense  and defense have been no better?

There’s no denying that Kemp has had his good days and bad days this season, but his good days are worth holding out for. Unless there’s yet another hidden disciplinary reason for Kemp’s benching, this is the time to go all-in with him. Believe in your best players.

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Torre also told reporters today that Rafael Furcal is available to pinch-hit today, with an eye toward easing him back into the lineup. There are no plans to place him on the disabled list.

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Ronald Belisario is officially back on the team. Tony Jackson of ESPNLosAngeles.com has details.

… Throughout an interview that lasted about seven minutes, Belisario offered little in the way of additional insight.

Asked if he was in the U.S. throughout his absence — his home is in Venezuela — he declined to answer. Asked if there was any aspect of the situation that might result either in another absence later this season or a late arrival to spring training for the third consecutive year, Belisario said he didn’t think so.

“I think I’ll be here for the rest of the season,” he said. “I think everything will be all right for next year.”

Belisario said he was throwing throughout his absence and that he felt normal during a two-game rehabilitation stint at high Class A Inland Empire over the weekend.

Belisario said he didn’t think he would formally address his teammates about his absence or the reason for it. He did say he recognized that the Dodgers have missed him in their bullpen — the team was 12-17 while he was gone — and that he regretted that.

“[But] I feel like things happen for a reason,” Belisario said. “Everything that happened happened. I can’t get too worried about it. I just have to keep moving forward.”

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• David Young of True Blue L.A. looked at the Dodgers’ East Coast struggles.
• Ernest Reyes of Blue Heaven has pictures from Sandy Koufax’s high school yearbook.
• USC fired former Dodger catcher Chad Kreuter as its head baseball coach Monday.
• Longtime Bronx Banter blogger and former Baseball Toaster colleague Cliff Corcoran has taken a job with YESnetwork.com. Best of luck, Cliff.

I wrote a post this morning, then held back publishing it because it just seemed as if there were way too many words being spent to talk about Garret Anderson, relative to his importance on the team. After mulling it over, I’ve decided to run it, but with this disclaimer: There are way too many words being spent to talk about Garret Anderson, relative to his importance on the team.

The reason I’m running it is because in the end, I do want to make this point: This semi-tradition the Dodgers have of saving a roster spot for an over-the-hill bat, just because he’s a veteran, is not a good tradition.

I made a similar point in March.

Anyway, here’s the post:

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George Sherrill struck out the only batter he faced in the Dodgers’ 6-3 loss to Washington on Friday. In his past six games, Sherrill has faced 16 batters and given up only three singles and no walks. It’s his best stretch of the season since April.

Sherrill used a lot of rope to climb back to this brief stretch of effectiveness. From May 2 to July 19, according to Baseball-Reference.com, Sherrill allowed a 1.043 OPS and an ERA of 8.10, with 12 of 20 inherited runners scoring against him.

The Dodgers gave Sherrill and Garret Anderson the entire season to solve their problems, a decision based largely upon the fact that they had had past success, along with the fact that they couldn’t go to the minors. You could say largely the same for Ronnie Belliard, who started the season 11 for 26 (.423) through April 23 but is 18 for 108 with 16 walks (.513 OPS) since.

Younger players, generally, did not get the same leeway. Xavier Paul certainly didn’t do well in the majors this year, with a .591 OPS (.455 after the All-Star break), but he also didn’t get as many opportunities as Anderson and was sent back to Albuquerque three different times, the last after the Dodgers traded two minor leaguers to acquire Scott Podsednik to replace him as Manny Ramirez’s understudy.

The rationale for Paul is that he (and in turn, the Dodgers) would benefit more with him playing every day in Albuquerque than sitting on the bench in Los Angeles. It’s not a crazy rationale, though there’s a counter-argument that Paul has learned everything he can in the minors, and that what would benefit him most is major-league time, even if he’s not playing every day. Is Paul going to overcome what stymied him over the past month by playing in Triple-A?

The Dodgers were even more impatient with some of their young pitchers. John Ely, who as recently as two months ago could be credited with saving the Dodgers’ season, had five poor starts in seven tries and was not heard from again. Carlos Monasterios was yanked in and out of the rotation. While Ramon Ortiz got 30 innings to prove himself, James McDonald didn’t even get 10. While Russ Ortiz got six games, Scott Elbert got one.

You can’t say the Dodgers gave no younger players a chance, but you can say that struggling older players generally got the benefit of the doubt over struggling younger players. You can also say that benefit of the doubt was largely a waste of time, Sherrill’s recent 16 batters notwithstanding.

I’m not suggesting the Dodgers should ban old players from their clubhouse, of course – I hope that’s clear. And I understand that many of these guys weren’t here for no reason. Sherrill was outstanding in 2009. Belliard certainly hit at the end of the 2009 season. The Ortizes were mainly a product of crazy roster problems in the bullpen at the end of spring training. Extenuating circumstances abound.

But at a certain point, with some of these players, enough is enough.

There was really no excuse for Anderson to hang around this long. And maybe in 2011, the Dodgers should think twice before dedicating a roster spot to that veteran off the bench based on a track record that is no longer relevant. Maybe, just maybe, the Dodgers should try giving that last roster spot to a younger player, promise they’ll stick him through thick and thin (the way they did with Anderson), and see what happens. Give that spot to a player who, even if he doesn’t hit, can bring some speed or defense to the game. Just as an experiment.