The Best Defense is a Good... DEFENSE!

Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness

August 21, 2008 at 8:03 AM | In Danny Ardoin, Juan Pierre sucks, Tanyon Sturtze | 7 Comments

Hey, sometimes timing works out great, right? No, I'm not going to completely rehash yesterday's post. But this can't be ignored. Russell Martin, playing out of position at third base, made two errors tonight in the span of three batters. Casey Blake, playing his third-best position at first base, made another error. Martin's first error didn't lead directly to a run, but it did mean that Rockies pitcher Jeff Francis was able to make the final out of the 6th inning rather than lead off the 7th inning, which would have been greatly helpful to the Dodgers pitching. His second error was much more painful, because rather than having none on and two out for Matt Holliday, Willy Taveras was on first with one out; two singles later, the game was tied. Blake's error hurt as well, allowing a run to score as it came with the bases loaded and one out. Fortunately, Martin's bat was a little better with 2 hits, but still - he's not a third baseman, and this cannot be counted as a day off, especially with a cross-country road trip coming up. Let's hope that Joe sees it that way, too.

(No, I'm not ignoring the fact that Danny Ardoin threw a ball into center field that led to the go-ahead run - that definitely hurt. Those things are going to happen, especially when you play twice a month. But at least he was in his normal position instead of being toyed with in the field.)

Moving on before thinking about this makes me even more upset...

* Juan Pierre started tonight in lieu of Andre Ethier. Surprisingly, I don't really have a problem with that. Much as I despise seeing Pierre play, you've still got to get him some playing time, and tonight was a really great time to do it. As Tony Jackson reports, "Pierre also is hitting .481 (13 for 27) for his career against Jeff Francis, while Ethier is 4 for 17 (.235)." It just constantly blows my mind that Pierre is usually not good enough to even play, yet when he does play, he's suddenly good enough to hit leadoff and get more at-bats than any other player. I know, I know, he's "got speed", whatever that means. It'd be one thing if he was getting a start with Matt Kemp getting a day off, because then you really don't have another legit leadoff man, but come on. Look at the stats entering the game tonight:

In 61 games in the leadoff spot, Juan Pierre has an awful .263/.297/.299 line for a .595 OPS.
In 31 games in the leadoff spot, Matt Kemp has a tasty .326/.384/.551 line for a .935 OPS.

We're supposed to believe that there's even an argument for Pierre over Kemp leading off when both are playing? That's a little insulting.

* Over at AaronGleeman.com, Aaron wonders why the Twins didn't go after reliever Al Reyes before he was signed by the Mets:

Reyes is 37 years old and has a history of arm problems to go with some off-field issues, but like many veteran relievers floating around the waiver wire and piling up on the scrap heap these days, he'd be a worthwhile addition to the Twins' right-handed relief options.

With a 4.33 xFIP this season Reyes would rank second to Matt Guerrier (4.14) among the team's right-handed relievers, and his 4.07 xFIP over the previous three years is better than Guerrier, Jesse Crain, and Boof Bonser (and would be better than Brian Bass, except he didn't pitch prior to 2008).

No, I don't care about the Twins, and yes, the Dodgers bullpen has been excellent thus far. But the post got me to thinking - should the Blue have tried to go after Reyes? Excellent pen or not, he only has to be better than the weakest link, and when you've got Tanyon Sturtze on the payroll, that's not a tough hurdle to clear. Using Gleeman's own statistic of xFIP (basically a fancy way of predicting a pitcher's expected runs allowed per 9 innings, independent of defense), maybe they should have: While Reyes has a xFIP of 4.33, Sturtze is at a truly awful 9.28. However, this doesn't really mean that the Blue should have acquired Reyes; it just further proves what we've been saying all along - that Sturtze doesn't belong in the big leagues at this point. Would Al Reyes be a better option for a roster spot right now? Sure he would. But so would Eric Stults, Mike Myers, Mike Koplove (once he gets back from Beijing), Matt Riley, and probably James McDonald, too. So that's only half of the AAA Las Vegas team that'd be preferable - plus even AA lefty Scott Elbert. Passing on Reyes doesn't really bother me; keeping an inferior option when you've got several better ones on the farm does.

- Mike Scioscia's tragic illness

- Mike Scioscia's tragic illness

Discussion

7 Comments on "The Best Defense is a Good... DEFENSE!"

Posted by grabarkewitz, August 21, 2008 2:45 PM

Well, this is the thinness of the Dodger bench at it's most prominent. On a daily basis, our best stick on the bench is a guy who has zero power, matter of fact the only home run on our bench is from a backup catcher with the least amount of plate appearances of the whole crew. Makes one wonder what Mark Sweeney, Pablo Ozuna and Angel Berroa have on Ned Colletti and Joe Torre?

Add to that, our pen is suddenly showing the ravages of overuse by Five Million Dollar Man, Joe Torre. Wade is out with a sore shoulder, Saito - bum elbow, and Proctor, the same. One can't tell me that Park, Broxton and Kuo are looking very sharp as the continued getting up to warm up and pitching nearly every day, in the pen or on the field, hasn't taken it's toll.

But, we have hope on the farm. We have stiffs who couldn't get anyone out at 27, getting roster spots at 37. This is a prime example of the Ned Colletti Experience. When in doubt, don't call up the kid who is tearing through hitters at a high level, instead call up a 37yo righty who has struggled at two levels this year - that is how you lose a pennant.

For all of the good moves Colletti has made over the past three weeks and even those are tainted by losing too much from the prospect tree, he is not doing much to extend his employment. Of course, the big question is; Does the Brand even notice?

Posted by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness, August 21, 2008 10:58 PM

Torgy, you're simply dead on in every way right there. I knew our bench was lousy, but I guess I didn't realize just HOW lousy until you pointed that out.

Posted by The Dude Abides, August 22, 2008 1:42 AM

MSTI, I don't know why you're criticizing Tanyon Sturtze. He has a professional haircut and is a scrappy veteran gamer who plays the game the right way. He will also provide a veteran example for our young pitchers on how to act after giving up back to back home runs. Those lessons are invaluable.

Also, Mr. Grabarkewitz, I don't see how you can criticize the Dodger bench. Mark Sweeney gives you a professional haircut and a veteran at-bat every time he goes out there. Sure, he's hitting .122 with three extra-base hits all season, but I'll take weak veteran grounders with hustle down the line from Sweeney over inexperienced home runs from Ethier, Kemp, and Loney ANY DAY OF THE WEEK. One thing you're forgetting Mr. Smartypants is that Sweeney also gives you a veteran interview every time. He is also a scrappy gamer who plays the game the right way. Don't forget that he gave Manny a hug. So I'll expect you to stop criticizing our veteran bench, thank you very much.

Posted by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness, August 22, 2008 1:44 AM

You're being very un-dude.

("Professional haircut." Brilliant!)

Posted by The Dude Abides, August 22, 2008 1:45 AM

Careful, there's a beverage here.

Posted by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness, August 22, 2008 1:47 AM

You've given me a good idea. Every time Torre makes a decision that backfires, I'm going to yell at my TV, "Why is everything such a travesty with you, man?!"

Posted by The Dude Abides, August 22, 2008 2:22 AM

That comment would really tie the whole blog together.