It May Be Pittsburgh…
April 5, 2010 at 11:10 am | Posted in Opening Day | 4 Comments…but it’s still Opening Day. And that means our long, dark winter of worrying about non-roster invites to backup infielders and lack of action on the free agent front is over. (Sadly, worrying about the divorce case has barely just begun). So while I don’t agree with the Opening Day starter, the batting order, or the 25th man on the roster, I think we can all agree: it’s worth getting out of bed in the morning again.
Fortunately for everyone involved, it’s in the mid-70s today in Pittsburgh, because all winter long I was wondering why in the hell MLB would schedule an early-April game in a cold weather city, while having the team from Los Angeles open on the road.
GAME ON.
Furcal, SS
Martin, C
Ethier, RF
Manny, LF
Kemp, CF
Loney, 1B
Blake, 3B
DeWitt, 2B
Padilla, P
Here’s Why I’m Not Concerned By Russ Ortiz Making the Team
April 5, 2010 at 12:04 am | Posted in Nick Green, Russ Ortiz | 3 CommentsThough it wasn’t really a surprise at this point, Joe Torre seems to have confirmed that the last spot on the 25-man roster is going to be filled by undead retread Russ Ortiz - and one might think that I’d approach this with fire and brimstone.
After all, the few times in which I’ve had the pleasure of discussing Mr. Ortiz on this blog haven’t been exactly friendly. To wit:
Russ Ortiz. I know that he’s not allowed a walk or a run in 5 innings, and I do not care. I refuse to live in a world where Russ Ortiz – Russ Ortiz! – can win a rotation spot on a team with playoff dreams. Since his last decent season in 2004, his MLB line is 10-28 with a 6.56 ERA. He is, quite possibly, the worst pitcher in baseball, and he’s about to be 36. No amount of spring training niceties should be able to undo that. Odds: 0.0000001%
If you’re wondering why I’m giving slightly more hope to one busted R.Ortiz over another, it’s because Ramon has thrown nearly twice the innings Russ has in camp – and because I’ll be the first to admit I have an irrational hatred of Russ Ortiz. The Giants and D-Backs connections, the huge contract, the total flameout, the age – I don’t want any part of it.
Troy from West Virginia has some strong thoughts on the Russ Ortiz signing (along with a wicked beard). Hey, I can’t say I disagree with him; Ortiz is abysmal and has been completely cooked for years. Troy is probably on his way to jail, and if the things in that article are true, then his future is well deserved. Still, when a man has that much facing him and he’s still bothered by a minor-league invite to Russ Ortiz… well, it probably means you shouldn’t have signed Russ Ortiz.
But I’m going to toss you a curveball here and say that this decision doesn’t bother me as much as you’d think it would, for two reasons.
First of all, the choice here was between Ortiz and Nick Green. That means that a vote against Ortiz was a vote for Green, and that’s hardly a much more appealing option, since I haven’t been much friendlier to Green than I have been to Ortiz. As I said on Twitter yesterday, if the choice is between these two guys, I’d rather just root for a 24-man roster. While I’d like to say that this spot could have been used far better by protecting Eric Stults, keeping Chin-Lung Hu, or picking up Hank Blalock, I have to admit those ships had sailed (almost literally in Stults’ case.) So the last spot on the roster was going to be a wasted one no matter what, and in that sense I was prepared for this decision.
Secondly, this is very temporary. Hong-Chih Kuo traveled to Pittsburgh with the team, is reportedly “feeling good”, and is eligible to be activated from the DL as soon as Saturday. Ronald Belisario can stay on the restricted list through April 25, but if he proves himself worthy, the club obviously won’t wait that long to activate him. The point is, the Dodgers will soon need at least one, and possibly two, roster spots for pitchers. I’m not exactly sure where that second one is going to come from just yet (possibly a phantom DL stint for George Sherrill if he can’t work himself out, especially if Kuo is ready to replace him as a lefty option?) but Ortiz is almost certainly going to be the odd man out once either of them are ready. Just because he’s on the roster on April 5 doesn’t guarantee that he’s still going to be there on April 15.
At least, that’s the shred of hope I’m clinging to.
Let’s Get Matt Kemp Fewer At-Bats
April 4, 2010 at 9:48 pm | Posted in Joe Torre, Matt Kemp, Russell Martin | 7 CommentsBack on March 6, I doled out some praise to Joe Torre for Torre’s announcement that he’d be placing Matt Kemp second in the order:
If Kemp really is going to be the man in the second slot, it’s a good sign as far as the decision-making tree goes, and an even better sign for lineup productivity.
Kemp then batted second in most of the games he played in, including yesterday’s finale, and with no further discussion about it from anyone, that seemed to be that. In fact, Kemp hitting second was such a foregone conclusion that Steve Dilbeck at the LA Times Dodgers blog complained just a few hours ago that he’d prefer to see Kemp hitting lower. I don’t agree, but the point is that as far as anyone could tell, Matt Kemp was your second hitter, no questions asked.
Except that the official blog posted tomorrow’s Opening Day lineup, and…
Furcal, SS
Martin, C
Ethier, RF
Manny, LF
Kemp, CF
Loney, 1B
Blake, 3B
DeWitt, 2B
Padilla, P
So now Russell Martin is inexplicably in the #2 hole, and Kemp is down to #5? Kemp is likely the best hitter on this club, and what this does it make it more likely than not that he won’t hit in the first inning. It also means that (keeping in mind that Blake DeWitt is a total unknown) you’re giving what will likely be 2 of your 3 worst hitters in Furcal and Martin the most at-bats.
If Martin can get back to what he once was, then this could make sense. At his best, Martin is an on-base machine and a pretty decent runner. But Martin’s hardly at his best. He’s coming off a horrendous season, and more importantly his health is still questionable. He played in just 5 spring games with the big club, and while he seems fine, many – including myself – think he’s rushed back unnecessarily. So why put the undue pressure on him of being counted on to get on base, when you could easily slide him in at 7th for a few weeks to get his feet under him? If he’s healthy and hitting better than last year, you can always slide him up to maximize his OBP skills and move Kemp down into a more traditional run-producing role. To do it now seems premature, in addition to being completely unexpected.
Another way of looking at the lineup is with this arrangement of bats that showed up on the official Dodgers Twitter today. All I can think when I see this is, “Vicente Padilla has his own engraved bat?”
Opening Day Roster Fakeout
April 4, 2010 at 2:37 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 8 CommentsWe’ve all been waiting for the club to announce the Opening Day roster, and just now the official press release arrived. I quickly scanned it, looking to see whether Nick Green or Russ Ortiz had made the cut.
And the answer is… neither. Cory Wade, of all people, is on the roster, despite having just undergone arm surgery. Obviously, Wade isn’t making the team, so what this really means is that they still haven’t decided between Green or Ortiz. The team was merely required to submit an initial roster today, but there’s no reason that they can’t make further moves – like putting Wade on the DL – before the game tomorrow.
If this all sounds familiar, it’s because the exact same thing happened last year, when the injured Claudio Vargas and Delwyn Young were merely placeholders for spots that eventually ended up going to Will Ohman and Doug Mientkiewicz.
So we wait until tomorrow for the real, final roster. The real question is, why is the decision between Green and Ortiz taking so long? It’s not there’s any more games for them to prove themselves in.
How About Hank Blalock?
April 2, 2010 at 6:11 pm | Posted in Hank Blalock | 11 CommentsIt’s a good thing the Dodgers have one of the most solid starting lineups 1-8 of any team in baseball, because any way you slice it, the Dodger bench is weak. Literally, weak, in the sense that none of them give you much faith they could beat a 7-year-old girl in arm wrestling.
Brad Ausmus hits like, well, a backup catcher. Jamey Carroll’s a decent multi-positional vet, but offers zero power. Reed Johnson’s an okay fourth outfielder, but again, not much power. Nick Green is barely playable. Ronnie Belliard can’t be counted on to repeat his hot Dodger debut, and certainly isn’t much of an asset in the field. Garret Anderson’s a total zero in the field – and even if he wasn’t, he’s 38, coming off three consecutive declining years of OPS, and will be asked to come off the bench for the first time in his career. He’s hardly dependable to be the power bat a contending club needs, and if he isn’t, then you’re looking at a bench that’s entirely right-handed.
Remember, last season, the Dodgers got exactly two homers all year from their main bench foursome of Ausmus, Juan Castro, Mark Loretta, and Juan Pierre. (Yes, I know guys like Blake DeWitt and Jamie Hoffmann chipped in with a dinger here and there, but those were the main four guys all season.) It’s the lack of production like that which forced Ned Colletti to go out and get Jim Thome at the trading deadline. Not that Thome really contributed, but the need was obviously there.
Yet as we go into 2010, the issue has hardly been fixed, for all the reasons laid out above. So why, as poster DoppleGangBang asked at the BBWC, not consider Hank Blalock, who just found out he’s not going to make the Tampa Bay roster?
“Because he sucks, genius.”
Well, yeah. He sort of does. He’s a terrible fielder, he gets hurt a lot, and his OBP was an awesomely bad .277 last year. But he also hit 25 homers, and he’s a lefty who suffered through some terrible luck (his .249 BABIP was far below his career average, and is likely to rebound). I won’t pretend he doesn’t have flaws – good lord, does he – but I also won’t accept that we’re living in a baseball world where a team that’s desperate for left-handed power can’t bring on a guy who hit 25 dingers last year for just about zero cost.
When I saw how many HR he had last year, my first thought was of course, “but he probably hit 23 in Texas, right?” Surprisingly, no. He hit 12 of the 25 on the road, but overall was a far better player away from Arlington, putting up an OPS of .802 on the road vs. just .674 at home. More importantly, check out his career split against LH/RH pitchers:
Career vs. LHP: .229/.278/.378 .656
Career vs. RHP: .285/.348/.498 .847
The man, clearly cannot hit lefties at all. But so what? You’ve got a nearly 100% right-handed bench for that. If he never once faces a lefty all season, all the better – let him pound on all the righties who would otherwise feast on Carroll, Johnson, or Belliard.
As for his defense, it’s not pretty. He’s a terrible third baseman, and average at best at first. But that’s not why you bring him in, because he’s your 3rd option at best at each of those positions. You bring him in because he can provide lefty power off the bench at a minimum price, which is something you simply do not have right now.
Over at FanGraphs, guys who are way smarter than me see Blalock’s flaws but acknowledge his usefulness, particularly in comparing him to Eric Hinske, a player who was tops on my list of possible lefty acquisitions last week:
*As an aside, Blalock bears resemblance to a certain other left-handed former third baseman. One who I’ve mentioned far too much this week already, but here we go again. Blalock stacks up pretty well to Eric Hinske. Check out how they match up across the WAR components since 2002:
Batting:
Hinske: 15.7
Blalock 14.1Fielding:
Hinske: -3.4
Blalock: -13.9Replacement
Hinske: 117.4
Blalock: 128.6Positional
Hinske: -22.1
Blalock: -7.8So Hinske played positions of less defensive importance, but played them better. He also played a little less and hit a little better.
You can’t get Eric Hinske right now, yet you can pick up Blalock – who’s still only 29, and whose top comparable at baseball-reference is actually Casey Blake – for absolutely nothing. Blalock’s got a lot working against him, I admit. But if you realize what he can do very well (crush righties), and don’t put him in the situations he’s terrible at (hitting lefties or wearing a glove) more than you absolutely have to, he can be a fantastically undervalued pickup for a team who desperately needs one. If that means having to cut ties with Nick Green, Garret Anderson, or Ronnie Belliard, then so be it.
Well, That’s Enough of That
April 2, 2010 at 9:19 am | Posted in Blake DeWitt, Charlie Haeger | 8 CommentsApril Fool’s or not, that was about all I could take of the Juan Pierre’s Tragic Awesomeness. I don’t even have anything in particular to discuss right now, but I just need to not have a Pierre post be the first thing you see.
In far better news… Blake DeWitt and Charlie Haeger were (finally!) officially named as the starting second baseman and fifth starter, respectively, just as we’d expected. Now all I need is for news to break that Nick Green (unlikely) and Russ Ortiz (probable) will be nowhere near this team in a week, and the Dodgers will be on a nice streak of great decisions.
Juan Pierre: The People’s Hero
April 1, 2010 at 6:47 pm | Posted in Juan Pierre rules | 7 CommentsWatch this video, and try to pretend as though you’re not tearing up just a little bit.
The man is a true hero, on the field and off.
Chicago doesn’t have any idea what kind of gift they’ve received.
Juan Pierre Leaves a Void Which Can Never Be Filled
April 1, 2010 at 12:01 am | Posted in Juan Pierre rules | 19 CommentsI don’t like to admit when I’m wrong, and I don’t do it too often.
But in this case, I was wrong.
It started last July, when Manny was suspended for steroids.
It festered, as he offered no explanation for his actions. Fans had put their hard-earned money into Dodger tickets, hoping to see their hero, and what had he done?
Manny let them down. He let all of us down.
Yet while that overpaid cheating heathen sipped Mai Tais on a beach – did we ever find out what he was really doing? – feeling no remorse, we were left with a void.
A void in left field, and a void in our hearts.
Yet with the season spiralling out of control, up stepped a man diminutive in stature, yet with a soul bigger than any ill-begotten bicep Man-child could show.
I’ll just say it: Juan Pierre, long-forgotten, saved the Dodgers season.
Despite doing nothing wrong – doing exactly what he was signed for – Pierre had been bypassed by other outfielders. But he handled his demotion with the kind of class you rarely see in the world of today’s spoiled crybaby athlete.
You say he showed class? I say he was the head of the class.
Pierre started every single game during the cheater’s absence. He asked for no time off, for all he had ever wanted was a chance to play. And isn’t that what we all yearn for? A chance?
In Pierre’s 50 games back where he belonged, at the top of the lineup and receiving our adulation, he hit .318. .318! You can toss out all the fancy stats you want, but you simply cannot argue that .318 doesn’t help the team.
Get back to me when there’s a stat that measures heart, because the size of this man’s heart far outweights the 180 pounds he’s listed at.
Sure, some might say, but the team actually had a lower winning percentage with Pierre than Manny. That’s shortsighted; baseball is a team sport. The pitchers didn’t pitch, the fielders didn’t field - most likely, the team was in shock over Manny’s pure betrayal.
That’s what it was, a betrayal. All the while, Pierre kept hitting singles and stealing bases, just like the baseball I remember in my youth.
Yet upon Manny’s return, Pierre was rudely sent right back to the bench. Manny received cheers as if nothing had happened. Pierre received nothing but the foolish cheers of bloggers who claimed he had actually hurt the team.
Hurt the team! Of all things! Despite hitting .318! And showing up and playing hard every day!
In late September, I was the best man in a wedding. Part of the gift I received was a “Juan Pierrewood” shirt. It was intended as a joke, but little did my friend know how I would cherish it.
I’m glad I have that shirt, for it’s all memories, now. Pierre is now in Chicago, part of a team that appreciates a true leadoff man, without falling prey to the fallacies of things like “on base percentage” and “VORP”.
The cruelest fate of all is, the White Sox share a spring home with the Dodgers. Every day, we had to watch Pierre trot out to left field in the unfamiliar silver and black.
Black is appropriate. For his absence from camp makes it feel like a funeral.
Now he’s in Chicago, wearing #1. We’re left with a man who may wear #99, but who is #2 in so many ways.
I was wrong, Juan. You were never appreciated while you were in town. And we’re all poorer for your loss.
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