E, I, E, I, O! There is a silver lining in his outing, by the way. James McDonald showed he can pitch, putting the D-Backs away with a haste in the first two innings. Then, in the 3rd inning he grooved a pitch for Chris Young, who jacked it out and he just fell apart. According to Dylan Hernandez of The LA Times, James had this to say after the game:
“I lost my focus a little bit. Maybe I should’ve slowed down a little bit and paced myself better. It’s a small step in my development. It makes me want to pitch tomorrow if I could.”
He also showed class, maturity and willingness to learn by changing his uniform and coming back to sit on the bench for the rest of the game. How many guys would just shower and sulk the rest of the night? I think James will be just fine. I have never been certain that he would be a starter, but he’s here, so let’s see how it goes. I think he would be excellent in the bullpen. What’s still killing us is lack of offense. End of story!
BOXSCORE:
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| IBB: Snyder (by Troncoso). HBP: Byrnes (by McDonald). Pitches-strikes: McDonald 57-31, Troncoso 57-41, Mota 39-20, Ohman 7-5, Garland 98-56, Pena, T 12-8, Schoeneweis 8-4, Qualls 19-13. Groundouts-flyouts: McDonald 3-2, Troncoso 5-5, Mota 3-1, Ohman 1-1, Garland 12-7, Pena, T 1-0, Schoeneweis 2-0, Qualls 1-0. Batters faced: McDonald 13, Troncoso 17, Mota 8, Ohman 3, Garland 27, Pena, T 3, Schoeneweis 2, Qualls 4. Inherited runners-scored: Troncoso 2-1, Ohman 2-1, Schoeneweis 1-0. Umpires: HP: Dan Iassogna. 1B: Charlie Reliford. 2B: Larry Vanover. 3B: Sam Holbrook. Weather: 75 degrees, roof closed. Wind: 0 mph, None. T: 3:10. Att: 31,036. April 10, 2009Box score official statistics approved by Major League Baseball Office of the Commissioner |
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DODGER NOTES:
- At least the good news is that Kuroda’s arm is OK
- Sometimes things like this lead to something better – for example, maybe Eric Stults will get it together.
- All I know is that we’d better start hitting – 3.6 runs a game is horrible.
MINOR LEAGUE REPORT:
- The Great Lakes Loons got hammered 6-1. Move along – nothing to see here, folks. Boxscore
- The Inland Empire 66′ers got hammered 9-2 - Travyan Robinson had a HR and Triple from the leadoff position and the rest of the team sucked pondwater. Boxscore
- The Chattnooga Lookouts lost 4-2, even though they outhit Birmingham 11-9. Jamie Hoffman had 2 hits and Josh Bell doubled. Scott Elbert pitched 4 innings, allowing 6 hits and 2 runs. Boxscore
- The Albuquerque Isotopes lost 9-5 with Luke Hochevar getting the win. Repko was 2-3 with 2 runs scored. X.Paul was 3-4 (3 doubles), Hu was 2-4 as was AJ Ellis. Weaver pitched 1.1 innnings giving up 3 hits and 2 runs. Boxscore
It looks like Troncoso is now our long man…
but not tonight.
MickeyD looked nervous. He pitched like a rook. His stuff wasn’t that bad, it was just all over the place. And the team didn’t look all that inspired to come back from such a huge deficit early. Maybe they know if the starter doesn’t give them 6 of sub 4.0 they are in serious trouble.
I still have confidence in the 8 regulars we are putting out there. But I say again for the redundanteenth time, this team needs some tweaking. Pedro? Yeah, maybe. But I suspect Jed is on the phone early and often checking out what else might be available. Elbert looked pedestrian in his first start at AA – 4 IP with a 1.75 WHIP. Windblown is up next I suspect. And I have zero confidence in the older dudes left standing after ST. I have this feeling we may stumble along at .500, much like we did last year but for different reasons, and sometime sooner or later, the trigger will be pulled on something.
Today – Stults. Ho hum.
You have to love how Orlando Hudson is already becoming a TEAM LEADER – something LA has lacked the previous few years. He was at the mound a few times, calming McDonald down & giving him encouragement. A far cry from our previous 2nd baseman. I look for good things from Orlando & his attitude.
That’s a good point, Jim.
Dodger power numbers: not good –
Kemp & Loney lead in hits after 5 games with 7 hits each. Kemp 1 double, 1 HR, 5 singles.
Loney all singles. Will not do.
Furcal & Hudson & Manny next with 5 hits each.
Furcal with 2 doubles, Hudson 1 triple, Manny with only 2 doubles.
Ethier follows with only 4 hits, all singles.
Holding up the end with only 2 hits each: Blake, Martin, Ausmus.
After 4 games, the Dodgers have 3 HRs, with Blake hitting 2, and Kemp with 1. Not enough.
Should add, Kershaw has 1 hit.
No on else on the entire team has a hit. No one.
So we can say, after the first 4 games, the Dodgers began the season in a major slump.
Rockies: 8 HRs – 12 other extra base hits — 30 runs.
Diamondbacks: 7 HRs – 6 other extra base hits — 22 runs
Giants: 3 HRs – 10 other extra base hits — 22 runs.
Dodgers: 3 HRs — 7 other extra base hits — 18 runs.
Padres: 2 HRs – 11 other extra base hits — 18 runs.
The Dodgers are somewhat still playing like they did in Spring Training —
On the bright side, our offense can only get better[doesn't it?]. Very soon it will come alive and when it does it’s going to be, Katie bar the door. Might be the perfect time for Joe to tweak the lineup a tad[ i.e. flip-flop Manny and Andre and J Russ to 7th or preferably 8th]. P.S. Do you think that Pedros’ price may have gone up.
As some mentioned prior to the ManRam signings, the Dodgers fortunes really rest on the rest of the players, not Manny. If the others don’t produce it really wouldn’t matter if Manny hits .998 this season.
Sometimes it’s just good to shake things up. Here’s what I would do tonight:
1. Raffy
2. O-Dog
3. Andre
4. Manny
5. James
6. Casey
7. Matt
8. Russ
Shake it up!!
As I have been saying for at least 2 weeks this starting pitching needs 2 – 3 long relievers behind it. Yes the Dodgers have a good bullpen but the starting pitching dictates what type of relievers are needed.
Bad evaluation of players, team needs and roster selection by Torre and Ned regarding the pitching staff.
It seems that the Dodger reserves usually underperform compared to their ability. When they leave and go to another team they seem to play at a higher level. If Eyechart’s performance does not improve he should be replaced by Pewee.
If McCourt has to micromanage in order to improve the team then he should fire Ned and Torre.
McDonald should be a long releiver until June in order to feel comfortable at this higher level of stress.
The Dodgers need a pitcher that is a man. That means either Pedro or Lindblum.
As it stands right now, we could live with our pitching. It’s the offense (or lack thereof) that is Killing us.
Pedro is a crapshoot. He wants $5 mil+. Nobody is biting. If he would take an incentive-laden deal, Ned would sign him in a heartbeat.
Don’t write off Schmidt just yet.
We will need another pitcher and McDonald in the pen would help us immensely, but right about now, we need our offense to carry us and they have left us down!
Lindblom is a possibility, but here’s the rub. He has never started! One would think he would need a season to build the requisite arm-strength.
I post stats, I post sites containing stats, and I have to believe few read them. Stats are boring, and I know stats lie, but they are exactly what is used to evaluate and pay players. Teixeira got a zillion dollars because of his stats, not because he is popular with the ladies. You want a stat that doesn’t lie? Take a look at James McDonald’s line from yeterday and tell me it doesn’t stink.
“Lindblom is a possibility, but here’s the rub. He has never started!”
Sure he has. He started 9 games last year in our minor league system. He started 15 games at Tennessee before transferring to Purdue. Then he started 9 games there his sophomore year before being made a closer. I believe we drafted him as a starter, and that is why he started 9 games last year. And, if the pitcher is actually throwing strikes instead of going the McD route, it is possible to get through 6 innings on less than 90 pitches. Considerably less actually. I would think Lindblom could do that every 5th day. Shoot, I was throwing 60 pitches when I was 50 years old in MABL.
Here is another stat that will likely get ignored. This tells you how meaningless stats are 5 games into a season. We are currently 7th in ERA, actually a half run behind Pittsburgh, but we are 1st in BAA while Pittsburgh is 13th. Makes no sense.
Common sense tells us we have to pound away at it a while to see how we are really doing. I say about 20 games will give us a real sense of where we are.
In the mean time, I would find another starter to replace Kuroda – and I don’t mean Stults – and it wouldn’t hurt to seek another one as well. Will McDonald get it together, maybe, but another start like this one could be disastrous for him. I said earlier, and I still believe it, he should be the number 1 starter at AAA and work on his stamina and pitch location. None of our young guys are ready. They could be by mid year, but not now.
Badger, you are correct in that the team seemed content with getting beat last night. There did not seem to be any rallying going on. Furcal and Hudson looked fired up, a little, but this team needs to get fired up and rally! We have the capability to come back and score a ton of runs in any game this year.
Why is it that teams always need to experience “it” first and then they find that inspiration? Its like, hey we had that game in Arizona last year and we caught fire after that believing that we could win EVERY game!
Woe woe is me…..
Everyone is so upset with the pitching but its really the offense that needs to step up and score runs like everyone expects them to! Manny is just getting going but he WILL catch fire at some point, just like everyone will. Its tough to be patient and yes every game counts. But Badger was right, give the team at least 20 games to find its character and identity.
Although I still think that Torre has not hit stride with managing yet either as there are obvious errors made this week regarding personnel, especially pitching but also with the lineup. Let’s see if Torre mixes up the lineup tonight, we all hope he does!!!
Moron still has Martin hitting 5th tonight. Regardless if Martin was hitting .400 he should be hitting lower in the lineup in order to allow him to concentrate on managing the pitchers because certainly Torre and Honeybutt do not know how.
Did anyone ever listen to Tom Seaver talk about his responsibility as a pitcher to monitor his pitching from the mound? He says that pitchers have the responsibility to check their timing, arm slot, release point, etc., on every pitch and to immediately repair their motion when necessary, while simultaneously remembering every pitch that they throw to every hitter during that game. Dodger pitches go innings without themselves, the catcher, the pitching coach, or the Manager stopping their slide to oblivion.
We are fortunate to have a good group of scouts to draft good players. Now we hope that the Dodgers will hire a bench coach to run the team. Let Torre motivate the players and find a bench coach with a brain and a pitching coach that motivates without putting his hand on every players’ ass for 10 seconds.
On hitch in the line up is Loney. Am I am the president of his fan-club. No power, just little chipped balls into the outfield, and rollers through the infield.
Maybe he needs his eyes checked.
Kemp seems to have balance in his swing. Did not have that in Spring Training.
Ethier looks comfortable at the plate.
Manny is just off a bit. He is attacking the ball. But remember with Manny — those pitchers are being a careful as they can. And he does not always get a pitch right down the middle.
Hudson did a great job last night, waiting for that pitch he hit the triple. Great job of hitting.
What’s up dad? You on your vacation yet?
I don’t think your offense will be a problem this year. After watching Manny for 8 years I know a slow start never means anything. Unless of coarse he decides to quit on your team… joke (calm down people).
And I love your young player Kemp. If he gets his plate discipline down and doesn’t look for a HR every at bat, I can see him having a multiple All-Star future.
I think Badger hit the nail on it’s head. This team reminds me of how we played before the arrival of Manny. Last year Manny got everyone to play over their collective heads for 2 months and it looked like nothing could stop us from winning it all. This year it’s like all the other players expect Manny to come through if they just stay out of his way. What Milton said is not true in baseball. They also serve who only stand and wait. NOT!
Troll,
We leave tomorrow at 7 AM