2008 August 27 « Mike Scioscia's tragic illness

I Can’t Wait Until Vin Confuses the Blake Third Basemen

August 27, 2008 at 1:30 pm | Posted in Blake DeWitt, Cory Wade, Pablo Ozuna, Tanyon Sturtze | 2 Comments

Blake DeWitt recalled, Pablo Ozuna DFA’d

Didn’t see this one coming. Guess is has something to do with the team’s sagging offense. DeWitt was batting .500 (11 for 22) over a four-game stretch that ended on Saturday, but according to his day-by-day stats on milb.com, he hasn’t played since. Not sure why, but I’ll try to find out. … Ozuna had become nothing more than a late-inning defensive replacement and pinch runner, but I would imagine if he clears waivers, he’ll be back next week. … A few minutes ago, the club also announced that Cory Wade was coming off the DL and that Tanyon Sturtze had been DFA’d, but they quickly retracted that. Not sure why, unless they decided to wait a couple of days because Cory is still sore.

The first move is a win all around, even though I had wanted DeWitt replaced for quite some time before he actually was. Forget DeWitt’s recent hot streak in the minors, because Pablo Ozuna is completely useless, and even a slumping DeWitt has more value than Ozuna does. Also, DeWitt is a superior fielder to Casey Blake, which has the dual value of A) improving the Dodger defense in the late innings and especially B) giving Joe Torre a viable alternative other than Russell Martin at third base. Plus, DeWitt’s been playing a lot of second in the minors, so perhaps we’ll get a chance to see if he can handle the spot and toss his hat into consideration for replacing Jeff Kent next year.

As for the almost move? Well, I have to say I’m impressed that it actually was going to be Sturtze rather than Ramon Troncoso or Jason Johnson. But the fact that they changed their minds worries me. Is Wade still hurt? Everything we had heard pointed to his stay on the DL being the absolute minimum. And if so, why was it announced and then retracted? There’s obviously a lot more to this story, so we’ll have to see.

Bottom line, Blake DeWitt > Pablo Ozuna, and I can’t imagine any argument to the contrary. Good to see the kid back.

- Mike Scioscia’s tragic illness

This Would Be Funny If It Weren’t So Excruciating

August 27, 2008 at 12:04 am | Posted in Cory Wade, Crapulence, ineptitude, Joe Torre, Russell Martin, Tanyon Sturtze | 2 Comments

Man, it’s one thing to watch your offense struggle… and it’s another thing to watch it struggle like that. You figure you’ve got a perfect opportunity to break out of your offensive malaise, because you’re up against the worst team in baseball, and not only that, the 22-year-old opposing moundsman is something called “Collin Balester“, who I’m not afraid to admit I had never once heard of in my life before tonight. But what do we end up with? One run on seven hits, plus another wasted outstanding pitching performance (Derek Lowe the victim tonight, as it seems he so often is.)

Make no mistake, though. Regardless of what the scoreboard said, the Dodgers were shut out tonight. Their one run came after loading the bases on zero hits – back-to-back hit batters and a walk - and only came around when Nationals catcher Jesus Flores had a brainfart in not tagging Nomar at the plate on Matt Kemp’s fielder’s choice grounder to third.

Really, I can’t describe this any better than Dodgers.com reporter Michael Schwartz put it:

The Dodgers’ run of offensive futility has gotten so bad, they’re inventing new ways not to score runs.

And against the worst team in baseball no less.

Tuesday’s episode included four double plays, 10 runners left on base and a lineout double play with the bases loaded, as the Dodgers dropped their season-high-tying fifth straight game, 2-1, to the Nationals at Nationals Park.

It’s unbelievable. It’s not outright futility, the matching 0-5′s turned in by Kemp and Andre Ethier aside. It’s the complete lack of situational hitting that’s destroying this team right now. Four for thirty-nine with runners in scoring position over the last three games is completely unacceptable. Another opportunity lost, with Arizona on their way to defeat against San Diego. I’m still not ready to jump ship, not when you still have six more games left with the team you’re three games behind. But clearly, this needs to get fixed now. And yeah, I do feel like I’ve written the same post four days in a row.

So what now? Obviously, just hoping guys turn it around isn’t enough, although you can’t really replace the entire lineup, either. Look for some lineup changes for game two, although this quote from Torre seems to say that it’s more about rest than performance:

Torre still hopes to give Kent, catcher Russell Martin and possibly third baseman Casey Blake a breather in Los Angeles’ series against the last-place Nationals to keep them fresh in advance of this weekend’s showdown in Phoenix against the first-place D-backs, who entered Tuesday leading the Dodgers by three games in the National League West.

Kent could use a break, although he is 4-9 lifetime off of Nationals starter Tim Redding. If you’ve read this site at all lately, you know I want to see Martin get a break. Here’s what worries me, though: if Blake takes a seat, is Torre going to put Martin there again? Because we’ve been through this. That’s NOT a break for Martin. Put Nomar at third and Angel Berroa at short, or don’t rest Blake at all. I cannot stress this enough. I also have zero faith that it’s actually going to happen.

Finally, expect to see a roster move before the game, as Cory Wade is expected to be activated off of the disabled list. No word on who leaves town for him… but it has to be Tanyon Sturtze, right? The Dodgers are already carrying 12 pitchers on the roster, so it has to be an arm that goes down. I suppose it could be Ramon Troncoso too, optioned to Vegas until rosters expand, but Sturtze is barely…

Who am I kidding. Of course it won’t be Sturtze.

- Mike Scioscia’s tragic illness