Monthly Archives: July 2009

Somewhere In New York, MSTI’s Jaw Has Dropped

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Tonight at 7:10 P.M., Jason Schmidt died again. 

87toppsjasonschmidt.jpgAfter the 1st inning, he, once again, rose from the dead: 

SchmidtOfTheDead2.jpgSchmidt2009.pngEver have one of those moments when you joke around with someone and then give this crazy hypothetical situation and laugh because you know it’d never come true? 

Tonight was something like that.  As Jason Schmidt was self destructing in the first inning, in order to humor ourselves through the pain, it was fun to joke with some friends at the possibility of him actually somehow 1. finishing the 1st inning and 2. going four more innings and win the game. 

Except, well… it actually happened. 

As you are aware, Jason Schmidt started off tonight’s game about as badly as you could have imagined.  He wasn’t fooling anyone and I honestly didn’t think he was going to get an out, much less make it out of the first.  It wasn’t pretty at all, but somehow Joe Torre stuck with him and it paid off.  The offense put on a nice display, but the story of tonight is Schmidt.  He went 5 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, and 2 K’s and was far from what you’d call dominating, but managed to settle down significantly after the first and get out of some jams to pick up his win which, on a side note, somewhere Randy Wolf is cursing out the Dodgers offense screaming: “You help give Jason freaking Schmidt a win, but not me?!”  Nonetheless, the array of pitches for Schmidt went anywhere from a mid-80′s fastball to a curve ball in the high 60′s and Schmidt mixed up his pitches well enough to where, while he gave up quite a bit of fly balls, he only allowed one hit after the first inning. 

While he could end up easily imploding from here on out, tonight’s game was definitely a success and, sans the first inning, a nice return from Jason Schmidt.  It’s been an incredibly rough road and, sure, while he’s making a ton of money, I still can’t imagine it easy to go back on the mound knowing you are a shell of what you used to be, but Schmidt has tried to make the adjustments and all of the hard work over the past two years finally came together and proved successful… at least for tonight.  Again, if tonight is his best, then it’s not something that you’re going to find to be particularly reliable over the long haul, but what he did tonight at least warrants some props.  It’s definitely one more win than I thought we’d ever get out of him, and, for that matter, one more start than I thought we’d ever get out of him, but overall, a nice game that could have ended far differently after that first inning. 

Well done, tonight, Schmidt. 

- Vin vinscully-face.jpg

And That’s That

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As I write this, Jason Schmidt is self-destructing on the mound in the first inning. It’s pretty clear that he’s got nothing; his fastball is topping out in the mid-80s, the Reds aren’t fooled by any of it, and as Vin mentioned, we’re still waiting on our first swing-and-miss by a Cincinnati player. (To be completely fair, the defense isn’t helping; Manny got crocodile arms on a foul pop, Martin threw a ball into center field, and Kemp & Ethier just watched a ball fall between them – none of these things are good).

87toppsjasonschmidt.jpgSchmidt just collected his first out – yes, I’m writing this stream-of-consciousness – but it wasn’t even thanks to him, as the out was made at second after the botched fly to right. With a fly out to center and a walk, Schmidt is now up to 33 pitches. I don’t know what his pitch limit is, but at this rate I’ll be shocked if he makes it through two innings.

The point is, it’s time to pull the plug on him, and I’m not talking about just this game. It’s 3-0 at the moment, and the Dodger offense is more than capable of overcoming that. We’ll see. It’s just that while I completely agreed with Jon @ DodgerThoughts that Schmidt deserved the start, he is showing absolutely nothing to justify that faith. I know, I know; first inning in two years. Got it. This isn’t rust. This is, I’m sorry to say, a man who has nothing left. Joe Torre already announced that Schmidt was going to get a second start, but I can’t see any way you can run him out again and ruin the bullpen even more (James McDonald is already warming up).

So what do you do with him? I don’t know. It almost seems pointless to send him back to the minors; perhaps you can stick him in the pen and see if the velocity comes back if he’s only asked to go 1-2 innings at time; but you can’t let him start any more.

Know this; any GM with available starting pitching is rushing to their phone right now.

Please Don’t Take My Sunshine Away…

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Well, first off, the big news… 

Jason Schmidt in 2008: 

87toppsjasonschmidt.jpgAnd on the third season, he rose again… 

SchmidtOfTheDead2.jpgApologies for the crap Photoshop job.  Nonetheless, yes, folks, you heard right: as MSTI called, for the first time since June 16th, 2007, Jason Schmidt, the man who left his arm in San Francisco, will be starting a game on Monday night against the Reds.  It’s so unexpected that even Baseball Reference will have to change their information.  Look at this: 

SchmidtBaseballReference2.pngWhile amusing, I can’t say I blame the good people at Baseball Reference for putting in his “final game.”  I, like most of us, probably figured we wouldn’t see Schmidt back again at all, but he has clawed his way back and I tip my hat off to him for busting his tail off for the past two years trying to get back to this point.  In case you haven’t been following it, he has started 7 games this year in the minor leagues, two for the Inland Empire 66ers and the other 5 for the Albuquerque Isotopes.  During his 5 starts in Albuquerque, he went 2-0 with a 4.18 ERA and 1.30 WHIP, walking 7 and striking out 25, while having a K/9 rate of 7.  Nothing too bad, nothing too good, but at least his arm isn’t behind home plate.  That has to count for something… right? 

Either way, while I’m happy just to see him on any mound, much less the one in L.A., it’s nothing to get too excited for.  If he can be just competent, I’ll be thankful, and anything else is essentially gravy.  But it would be quite nice if he could provide a bit of stability in the 5 spot, though time will tell… 

On the other hand, let’s talk about someone who IS helping the team and in big ways: Clayton Kershaw. 

Kershaw71809.jpgIn case you missed tonight’s game, Kershaw was awfully good (again), going 7 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, and 5 K’s, to win his 8th game of the season and his 5th straight decision overall, and now 8-5 on the year.  While it has generally been common to designate Billingsley the ace of the staff, over the past month or two, your ace has been Kershaw.  In his last 42.2 innings, which goes back to his start June 16th against Oakland, Kershaw has only given up 3 ER’s, moving his ERA from 4.13 to 2.95 after tonight.  He has been absolutely on fire lately and continues to mature and grow.  On a side note, I’d definitely like to amend the grade I gave him in my first half review to a solid A.  He’s been pitching at a very high level for a bit longer than I thought and props to him.  All the more reason to bring this up… 

According to Ken Rosenthal, he reports that Torre has made it clear that he wants Halladay, while Toronto has said that any deal would have to involve Kershaw.  Can’t say I blame Toronto for trying, but in case you weren’t convinced before as to why trading Kershaw even straight up for Roy Halladay would be a bad idea, then this should do the trick:  

Halladay 2009: 10-3, 2.85 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 17 BB, 106 K, 7.76 K/9 ratio, 151 ERA+. 

Kershaw 2009: 8-5, 2.95 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 60 BB, 104 K, 8.78 K/9 ratio, 132 ERA+ (the ERA+ isn’t counting tonight, though if my math is right, Kershaw’s ERA+ probably jumped to around 146 after tonight’s performance)…   

Is this to say that Kershaw is as good as Halladay?  No, but if you’re putting up even semi-comparable numbers to Halladay, then you should think long and hard on whether you want to deal the pitcher, especially when it will likely cost you some additional prospects.  On the other hand, if the pitcher who is doing this is barely 21 years old and still can’t grow out a beard, then the GM who would even contemplate trading Kershaw should be checked into the nearest mental institution.  Not to say that Ned is thinking that either, but the point is: while I’d love Halladay in a Dodger uniform, if the price is Kershaw, then forget it.  Trading Kershaw would be a horrendously bad idea; think Pedro trade bad.  Think MC Hammer wanting to buy another Kentucky Derby race horse bad.  He’s too good and the amount of growth he has shown in just a year in the big leagues has been phenomenal. 

So, the Dodgers finish off the series with Houston tomorrow against the corpse of Russ Ortiz.  Let’s split this thing, shall we? 

- Vin vinscully-face.jpg

Who’s Going to Start on Monday?

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With Eric Milton likely out for the year following back surgery, the Dodgers are short a starter for Monday’s game against the Reds, the fifth game following the All-Star break. So… who’s it going to be?

Eric Stults (5000-1)
Though I don’t think the team agrees, Stults would have been my #1 choice; we have been backing him pretty hard all season, and his 9 starts are the most of the “non big four” guys. Unfortunately, Stults threw 94 pitches in AAA last night and is almost certainly unavailable for Monday.

Claudio Vargas (3000-1)
Vargas was signed to be a part of the 5th starter competition, and he’s been pretty good since returning from the DL – allowing just 3 hits and 0 runs in 4 games. However, he’s gone just one inning in each of his outings as he works back from arm troubles; I can’t imagine they now try to ask him to go 4 or 5 innings, especially after pitching in both of the first two Houston games.

Jeff Weaver (2000-1)
Weaver was almost certainly going to be the choice, as he’s already stepped into the rotation five times this season, with varying degrees of success. However, thanks to Chad Billingsley’s disastrous start last night – getting only 5 outs – Weaver had to step in and throw 58 pitches over 4.1 innings. Actually, coming in like that and getting that many outs was a pretty big deal, because as badly as the pen was beat up, it could have been much worse. There’s no way Weaver starts Monday on two days rest after that, but he should be available as a backup plan, as he did yesterday.


elbertontheroad.jpgScott Elbert (2000-1)
Elbert’s never started a major league game, but he has been primarily a starter in the minors, even through this season. He has pitched each of the last two days, but only 42 pitches combined. I suppose that having him make his starting debut on just two days rest is probably unlikely, but there’s also the possibility that they’ll want to showcase him for a possible trade.

Charlie Haeger! (1500-1)
Okay, I don’t really think that Haeger’s got much of a chance to be called up, but it would be awesome if he did, because who doesn’t love a knuckleballer? Not only that, he’s been very good in the high altitude of Albuquerque, earning an All-Star berth with a league-leading 8 wins. He was especially good in June, with a 2.09 ERA, and novelty of the knuckleball aside, isn’t someone who’s an innings eater exactly what we need right now? He’s gone at least 6 innings in 12 of his 15 starts, something that none of the big leaguers can come close to saying. Haeger’s scheduled to pitch tonight, so we’ll know pretty soon if he’s got any prayer.

James McDonald (20-1)
We all know McDonald wasn’t very good when given the 5th starter spot at the beginning of the season, but since returning from the minors in June he’s been fantastic: just 7 hits and 1 run allowed, with a 10/3 K/BB ratio, in 10 innings. All of those outings have come out of the bullpen, and that’s really the question, isn’t it – is there some reason he’s more effective out of the ‘pen? I don’t have an answer for that, and I would love to see him get another shot to see if he’s truly turned the corner. He’d also avoid the issue of having to make a roster move (i.e., “sending Blake DeWitt back down again“), but then there’s also the worry of weakening a bullpen that’s already missing Ronald Belisario and has a hobbled Jonathan Broxton.

Jason Schmidt (10-1)

schmidt2007.jpgDear lord, I can’t believe I’m calling Jason Schmidt, of all people, the most likely to do anything involving physical activity. If he were to actually get the call, I’d still think he’d be just as likely to hurt himself putting on his uniform in the locker room than to actually make it out to the mound; even then, people in the front row may want to be extra careful during warmups for fear of his arm flying completely off and hitting them in the face. (sidenote: this would be awesome.)

But it sort of makes sense, doesn’t it? The Dodgers obviously have a need for a starter, and Schmidt is not only rested (hasn’t pitched since July 12), but he’s at the end of his minor league rehab stint, which expires on – you guessed it – Monday. I think that aspect has been a little overblown, because the Dodgers could just option him to AAA (he’d be allowed to refuse, but I can’t imagine he would or that any other team would want to take on his contract). Schmidt hasn’t been great in AAA, but he has pitched at least 5 innings in his last 5 starts without ending up in the hospital. We’re quickly running out of time to see if he’s going to give us anything from his massive contract, so if you bring him up and he gets hurt again, well, who cares? It’s not like he was helping anyway, so you might as well give it a shot.

That’s right: MSTI is advocating that Jason Schmidt start on Monday. The end times are upon us.

Bill Plaschke Lies to You and Hates Dodger Stadium

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There’s so much good ridiculous Plaschke “material” today that I would almost feel remiss in ignoring it, as I considering calling out the unqualified idiocy of this stain upon journalism a fun responsibility of mine. But even better, other, funnier blogs have already beaten me to it! So let’s go with them…

Point: In today’s “article”, Plaschke whines that Manny didn’t recognize the fans in his first game back, saying that Manny “blew off Mannywood” and that he “acted as if none of it existed.”

Counterpoint: Deadspin, take it away…

Interesting. Or …

Maybe I’m crazy, but doesn’t it kind of look like he’s acknowledging them there?

Point: Plaschke complains that Manny didn’t throw a warmup ball to the fans in Mannywood (which, really, WHO CARES!?), saying that Manny “threw it in the left-field stands instead.”

Counterpoint: Deadspin again…

Again, I’m not a expert, but isn’t Mannywood in the left-field stands? Isn’t the gesture the same no what which set of seats the ball happens to land in?

Point: Plashke tweets “Longtime fans hate reading it, but I have to say it — Dodger Stadium needs to be gutted and redone. Same beautiful spot, better new stadium” (via Sons of Steve Garvey)

Counterpoint: Well, there is no counterpoint. How can you argue with a man fueled by hate? So come on, Bill, what is it you don’t like? I’m not saying Dodger Stadium is perfect, but it’s certainly a crown jewel of MLB parks - and you’d be hard-pressed to find many fans who advocate tearing it down.

No doubt that if they ever did, though, Bill would be the first to put out a poorly-written one-sentence-paragraph opus of how the McCourts are grabbing for money at the expense of history.

I have such mixed feelings towards Bill Plaschke. On one hand, I think he’s one of the worst writers in America, poisoning the public with his off-base opinions, out of touch rantings, and occasional outright lies. Yet, on the other hand, he’s so much fun to make fun of. What is a blogger to do?