Monthly Archives: August 2009

I Don’t Believe What I Just Saw

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Last night at Dodger Stadium: 

MartinGS2009 .jpgMSTI at this time: 

MSTI LA Traffic2009.jpgBy the way, isn’t it funny to notice how Torre’s reaction in the first photo is like the complete opposite to the rest of the 56,000 in the stadium?  There’s Kemp and Hudson, absolutely thrilled, and Torre just seems “ehhh…?”  I mean, I’m sure he was thrilled, but you gotta love that Godfather face. 

Anyways, a bit late to all this, I know, but massive headache, last night (strangely not caused by “God Bless America,” this time), but back!  So, wasn’t last night quite a fun game… for a change?  For the most part, an effective start by Weaver, a decent job by the bullpen and, thankfully, the offense did a decent job, scoring 7 runs on 11 hits.  Of course, for those watching, four of those seven runs were off the bat of Russell Martin, who hit a grand slam in the bottom of the 6th, to send Dodger fans and the city of Los Angeles into the Twilight Zone. 

It was really a great moment for a variety of reasons.  First off, we badly needed this game, lest we drop to a 2.5 game lead, but it was a great moment for Russell Martin, a guy who has had very, very few of them over the past year.  No question that 2009 has been a very forgettable year for Martin, going into last night ranking 21st in VORP amongst all catchers, in addition to having next to zero power, as he was being outslugged by everyone on the team with at least 50 at-bats (excluding Loretta), and even being outslugged by Billingsley and Wolf, not to mention the defensive miscues, this year.   Not quite what you expected from your catcher going into the year, though hopefully this wakes him up or can be the start of something that he can build upon. 

Nonetheless, one of the good things about Martin has been his OBP (.368), though it’s about .308 for the month.  Unfortunately, this is really compounded by the slumps of some others in the offense.  Jon Weisman of Dodger Thoughts points this out, noting a bulk his scapegoats for the month: 

These are my scapegoats for the Dodger slump in August.

James Loney: .328 on-base percentage, .288 slugging percentage, .616 OPS
Russell Martin: .295 on-base percentage, .316 slugging percentage, .611 OPS
Rafael Furcal: .296 on-base percentage, .274 slugging percentage, .570 OPS

Alas, that’s not going to get it done, but hopefully what we saw last night was more of a sign of things to come.  Not so much because of the Martin Grand Slam, but mostly for the fact that, sans Ethier (who still had an RBI) Loney, and the 9 spot, we saw every hitter get a hit, including 3 from Manny, a guy who really needs to, to quote Emeril Lagasse, “kick it up a notch.”  Thankfully, we’re playing a slumping Cubs team and, hey, if our offense can’t handle it tonight, Wolf’s going on the mound.  Maybe he can try going for the cycle again while throwing 8 scoreless. 

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At Least Vinny Rottino’s Hitting Over .400 in Chattanooga, I Guess

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Checking in very quickly to ask a simple question about yesterday’s Vicente Padilla acquisition: remember when the Dodgers traded Claudio Vargas at the deadline for Vinny Rottino? I wrote at the time that it didn’t make sense:

Vargas wasn’t great, but he was at least useful, while Vinny Rottino looks unlikely to ever play a single game as a Dodger. I hate to act as though I’m all worked up over losing Claudio Vargas, of all people, but this move just makes no sense at all.

Now that the pitching is even more beat up than it was in July, doesn’t that make even less sense? As Vin said yesterday, it’s pretty low risk to get Padilla (the price is right, and it’s not like he’s starting a playoff game), but when you’re desperate enough to go get Vicente Padilla, it makes you wonder just what the point was of trading a decent veteran arm for a useless minor league catcher in the first place. 

Have No Fear, Vicente Padilla Is Here!

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(In the voice of Don LaFontaine)… 

From the depths of Texas, a man goes to L.A. to save a city from ruin and collapse… 

Dodgertown Productions brings you the motion picture starring the newest, the biggest, and baddest super hero: 

Vicente.jpg

VICENTE… 

That’s right, folks.  Vicente Padilla is here to save the day.  Starting pitching concerns?  No problem, Vicente will take care of that.  And when you say his name, it has to be said just like Don LaFontaine.  

Alright, I’ll stop goofing off and get back to reality.  So… 

O.K., be honest. 

When you heard the news of the Vicente Padilla signing, wasn’t there that voice inside of you that just went: “CRAP!!”? 

If so, don’t blame you.  In fact, that was my reaction tonight when I first heard it from Vin (I guess that means I heard it from myself?  No, I’m not schizo… yet).  It’s not even so much about the talent level than it’s the fact that it’s, well, Vicente Padilla: douchebag extraordinaire (on a side note, there kinda goes the whole “we sign good character guys” thing, huh, McCourtsy?). 

I was gone at a gathering tonight when I heard the news and, I swear, right then and there, I wanted to jump into the nearest cold shower.  It just felt like the Dodgers got an STD or a virus or the swine flu or something… oh wait.  Nonetheless, enough about that; since he was signed for his pitching, let’s talk about that, since I’ve already wasted half of the article screwing around… 

So one of the common things you always hear, and it’s been said in regards to this signing is that “you can never have enough pitching!”  However, let’s actually qualify that statement: it should be “you can never have enough GOOD pitching.”  An obvious statement, I know, but sometimes, it seems people can mix up quantity and quality and think that just because we signed a pitcher, therefore it gives us more depth.  Except, if he’s a bad pitcher, it doesn’t.  With Padilla, it’s not that he’s a terrible pitcher, but he’s not a particularly good one, either.  He had some pretty good seasons in 2002 and 2003 in Philadelphia (118 and 110 ERA+, respectively), but he’s been hovering around below average since, with a 102 ERA+ in 2006 being the closest he’s come to being average since 2003.  He hasn’t had a regular ERA below 4.50 since 2003, either, and over the past few seasons, he’s had ERA’s of 5.76, 4.74 and, this year, 4.92.  On top of that, his FIP over the past few years has been pretty bad, usually hovering in the 5′s, with this year’s FIP at 4.93, while his K/9 rate this year has dropped all the way to 4.9.  

Again, our hero: 

Vicente2.jpg

VICENTE!!… 

In all honesty, this move doesn’t really phase me too much from a performance standpoint.  It’s a minor league deal that’s worth under $100,000, so it won’t really hurt the Dodgers financially, and he can only be considered an upgrade from Jason Schmidt.  Then again, over the long haul, I think a double arm amputee could be an upgrade from Jason Schmidt.  The point is, Padilla can be serviceable, and his average 6 IP per start is helpful, but some questions are raised: based on all the negatives he does have as a pitcher, and off the field, even if the move does work out and he does well, should we be concerned with the philosophy of the front office straying (again?) from giving young kids with probable higher upside (i.e. McDonald, Elbert, even Stults, etc.) the chance to start and instead going with a below average guy (in more ways than one) whose team just paid him millions of dollars to leave, with teammates thrilled by his departure?  In other words, is there any reason to believe that Vicente Padilla is really any better than what we could get from a McDonald, Haeger, Elbert, or even Stults, etc.?  And if so, is the difference really significant and worth all the baggage that comes with it? 

The goal, by the way, is for Padilla to start in Albuquerque on Sunday and then debut against the Rockies at Coors Field.  I suppose if he is getting bombed, he can cough on the Rockie hitters or something… but I doubt that will happen.  For Padilla’s a true fighter… 

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MSTI Goes to Mecca

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dodgerstadiumwide.jpgI’ve done MSTI game reports of Dodger games before (“MSTI goes to Queens“; “MSTI Goes to Philly“), but this one’s a little different, because on Thursday, I’m finally making it back to Dodger Stadium.

“Hey, dingus. You’re a Dodger fan, big enough to be wasting your time writing a blog about the team – presumably from your mom’s basement, as I understand all blogs are written from. What’s the big deal about you going to Dodger Stadium. Shouldn’t you go there like, 8087 times a year?”

Well, you’d think that, wouldn’t you. Yes, YOU. But living in New York City as I do, it’s actually the first time I’ll be seeing the team in LA in a very, very long time. (Don’t click that. It’s ugly.) Of course, I’ve seen them in about 9 different major league and spring training sites around the country in that time. So thanks in no small part to the massive and appreciated assistance of KABC’s Josh Suchon, I’ll be in the stands on Thursday against the Cubs.

As for who’s pitching that night… well, it was originally supposed to be Hiroki Kuroda’s turn. Of course, the liner he took to the head means he’s missing that turn (and maybe headed to the DL). At one point, Charlie Haeger said he’d pitch on two days rest (how can you not love a knuckleballer?!) so now it’s going to be Jeff Weaver… unless he has to go tonight because Clayton Kershaw has the flu, in which case Scott Elbert probably gets the start and Kuroda’s roster spot. Hey, who said being in first place would be easy? Off to the airport!

Vin will be your bartender through the weekend. Treat him well, he lives on tips.