LADodgerTalk.com – Matt Kemp, Clayton Kershaw, Vin Scully, Andre Ethier and the Dodgers

I was impressed by Vicente Padilla yesterday – he has a “live arm – ” that’s a given.   He has multiple pitches and excellent stuff, topping out at 96  MPH.  Listen-Up!  These guys don’t grow on trees, and he must have really ticked-off the Rangers.  He entered the season as the number 2 starter behind Kevin [...]

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It’s good that we have a nice lead, because we might stumble a little down the stretch, but did it ever occur to you, that with the extra days of rest in the playoffs,  this team is built for just such an occasion?  As it stands right now, Clayton Kershaw would probably start game #1 of [...]

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Randy Wolf pitched a masterful game and the Dodger bats came alive just in time to add some separation between the Dodgers and the Giants.  After last night’s loss, the Giants are now  7.5 games back with the Rockies 6.5 games back.  Neither team has the horses to catch us.  Our malaise is behind us [...]

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Most Dodger fans want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.  “Everybody sucks, get a new team.  We should have traded for Lee and Halladay.  I knew this would happen, blah, blah, blah.”  Eric Stephen of TrueBlueLa.com puts it all in perspective: Before you go throwing dirt on a club with a 5½ game [...]

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That is an understatement by Joe Torre (written by Dylan Hernandez of the LA TIMES). What Clayton is doing, is growing into one of the most dominant pitchersin MLB.  At an age when Tim Lincecum was learning to pitch at AAA, Clayton Kershaw is learning how to become an ACE.  Frankly, as much as Ihave championed [...]

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After last night’s debacle of the pen, the Yankees led by a walk off home run by A-Rod, claimed the best record in baseball from Joe Torre and the Dodgers.   That says it all. I felt early in the game that Billingsley was still favoring his hamstring and did not have his normal “follow-through” during [...]

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We didn’t get Cliff Lee or Roy Halladay, or for that matter Jared Washborn, but we did get George Sherrill.  Big deal you say?   I am going to suggest that it is bigger than the Phils getting Cliff Lee – here’s why:  The Phillies are heavily left-handed and another solid lefthander on our pen, who can [...]

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The Dodgers had 11 hits but, 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position coupled with 4 twin-killings doomed the dodgers.  We hit, but not when we needed to.  Wasted opportunities was the games’ byline, and finally it was sad to see the wasted opportunity that was James McDonald.   After James McDonald was re-called from [...]

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It was another quality start for our new Ace, but he looked mortal at times in giving up 2 earned runs.  Still, he pitched good enough to win or at least kept us in the game.   The defense made some excellent plays and then also let him down.  This is a game we should have [...]

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With 88 games completed the Dodgers have 56 wins, which is the best in baseball.  The last Dodger team to do this well was the 1977 Dodgers who had 57 wins at the same juncture, and went on to win 98 games.  If  we just play .500 ball the rest of the way, we will [...]

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The Blue  Jays have hung a FOR SALE sign on Roy Halliday, and Dodger fans are clamoring for a trade to be made.  Let me suggest that it’s not that simple, and the price we would have to pay would be the blood of our first-born, Clayton Kershaw!  I will say right off that I [...]

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Like most baseball fans, I like stats, but there is something I like even more.  It’s something that can’t be measured.  There are guys you would have a beer with, and guys you would go to war with.  They may be the same guy.  They may be another guy.  There are players in every sport [...]

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Would you like Cliff Lee?  Would ya’?  Would ya’? Pay me Elbert, McDonald, Lambo and DeWitt.  Thank you very much! Zambrano?

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Hey, I agree that  Juan Pierre deserves to play every day,  and any MLB team could use another starter, but what are the Dodgers willing to pay for something we really don’t need that badly?  Billingsley, Kuroda, Wolf,  Kershaw, and Milton could be the best staff in the NL by August.  Also, by August, Matt Kemp could be injured [...]

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On July 3rd, the Dodgers will still probably have a substantial lead in the NL West, at which time they will get two additional All-Stars for their lineup:  Manny Ramirez and Andre Ethier.  We all know Manny has been gone, but so has the Andre Ethier who hit behind Manny.  With Manny in the lineup, [...]

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Randy Wolf has whooping cough?  A wolf should never whoop! Ohman and Vargas are pitching but the Dodgers will leave them both a full 30 days, I believe.  If you remember, I said Ohman should have started the season in the minors. Jason Schmidt may resume his rehab – yeah and I might run a [...]

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The Dodgers have done exactly that.  They have seized the day.  In a NL West division, that “they” said was said to be incredibly weak (“they” are generally wrong), the Dodgers have just kept up their winning ways and still sit seven ames atop the NL West  with less than 20 games remaining in That [...]

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“Hey, how is your team doing, Buddy?” “The good news is that attendance is down, but not too much.  The bad news is that our MVP candidate has missed nearly half the season, our All-Star leadoff hitter when the season started, is hitting .240, our opening days starter has been on the DL for most of the [...]

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In 1988 we had Dave Anderson, Mike Davis, Pedero Guerrero, Rick Dempsey, Tracy Wooden, Danny Heap and the head stuntman, Mickey Hatcher. This year it’s Juan Pierre, Juan Castro, Xavier Paul, Doug Mientkiewicz, Mark Loretta and Brad Ausmus. They currently go by the name “Bomb Squad,” but I think that “The Stuntmen” are back. Bomb Squad may be more 2009, but The Stuntmen are timeless.

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UPDATE: Dodger brass watched as Will Ohman pitched a simulated 2-inning game to Dodger minor leaguers today.  Hummmm… I wonder if he would sign for a mil?  Jason Schmidt is supposed to start today! httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n_Az-1kDn0 The Dodgers seem intent on converting Scott Elbert back to a starter, so with that in mind, he was sent [...]

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