Daily Archives: June 30, 2010

Funny How A Sweep Makes Everything Better

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We all know where today’s focus is going to be, right? After the much-publicized benching, alleviated only by Manny’s hamstring injury, Matt Kemp came back today to get three hits, including a homer (plus a walk), drive in three, and make a few running catches in center field.

Clearly, Joe Torre’s benching/punishment/time out worked wonders, right?

That’s what the stories will say, anyway. As for me, I think it’s BS. Remember, Kemp got on base three times in his previous start, on June 26th against the Yankees. To act as though he was on an 0-40 streak headed into the benching, and that somehow Torre’s action snapped him into shape, just ignores the facts. Which is exactly why that’s how you’ll read it in Bill Plaschke’s column tomorrow.

But let’s not let this whole unfortunate situation overpower two performances which were just as important today. Vicente Padilla showed just how effective he can be when he’s right, allowing just three hits and a run over seven innings. Remember, his ERA has been misleading all season. After his first two lousy outings, in which he allowed eleven earned runs while not making it out of the fifth inning either time, Padilla’s allowed three, two, (DL stint), four, two, and one earned runs in the five starts since. It’s not ace-quality, but it is more than acceptable from your #4/5 starter, and better than what the majority of MLB teams are getting from that spot.

Suddenly, the Dodgers have five reliable starters again, and no wondering about which Haeger/Monasterios/Ortiz is going to have to be stuffed into a spot start. (Speaking of which, via Dodger Thoughts, Haeger will be joining the Isotopes. Glad he’s staying in the organization; I don’t think we’ve seen the last of him.) It’s a nice feeling to have.

Secondly, Rafael Furcal put up four more hits today. In his last five games, he’s got fourteen hits (and three walks), and he’s got his season average up to .333/.382/.488. He’s really playing some of the best baseball of his career, and the Dodger lineup just looks markedly different when he’s playing well and getting on base so often for the big guys.

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Still, as if this hasn’t been a bad enough week for Torre, only he could spoil an 8-2 sweep-capping victory over your biggest rivals. Kemp situation aside, you almost think this team is winning in spite of Torre sometimes. First, he hits Jamey Carroll (.397 OBP) 8th, while putting Garret Anderson (.197 OBP, and more on that in a second) 6th, above Reed Johnson and Carroll – both superior players.

However, that’s nothing compared to the bullpen usage. After Padilla went seven effective innings – and he’d thrown just 98 pitches, so I have no idea why he couldn’t have just stayed in – Ramon Troncoso came in for the 8th. I’m seeing others complain about that, but Troncoso hadn’t pitched since the Yankee disaster on Sunday, and it’s not the worst idea to let him go in a low-pressure situation, so fine.

Here’s what killed me, though. In the 9th, George Sherrill came in. He got Aubrey Huff to ground out, and then allowed singles to Pat Burrell and Pablo Sandoval (on a side note, note that this means he got the lefty out and let two righties reach base. Why does that sound familiar?) Remember, this is a seven-run lead. Rather than, you know, letting your struggling reliever try to work out of the situation against the likes of Juan Uribe and Eli Whiteside, here comes Torre with the hook, to bring in Justin Miller. I know there’s a day off tomorrow, but I also know that with a lead like that, you can give Sherrill the tiniest bit of rope. Or, as Chad from MOKM perfectly noted:

It’s like Joe Torre reads everybody’s blog and Twitter and just starts wasting the bullpen to troll us.

Still, none of that is the best part. When Miller entered the game, none other than Hong-Chih Kuo started warming. Yes, in the 9th inning of a seven-run game, by all means get your fragile superstar lefty up. Why not?

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Finally, Anderson went hitless in five at-bats today, striking out four times and popping out to first. I’m just completely out of things to add to this situation. I hate to bag on a guy on his birthday (he’s 38 now), but to say that he’s a waste of a roster spot is about the kindest way I can think of to describe it. He’s now hitting .180/.197/.287. What do we have to do to finally end this already?

Xavier Paul’s hitting .345/.402/.633 with 12 HR in AAA, by the way, and three of those homers have come in his last ten games. But no, I’m sure he’s not a better fit for this defensively-challenged, injury-prone outfield, right?

Manny’s Hurt, Ely Rules, & Sherrill Gets the MSTI Bump

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So you might think the big news coming out of last night’s 4-2 win over the Giants was that Manny Ramirez, the hottest Dodger hitter in June (1.028 OPS), strained his right hamstring in the first inning, requiring him to leave the game and putting his status in doubt.

Or perhaps it was another fine start by John Ely, who has rebounded from a tough start to June to be effective once again - exactly as I said he would. Ely’s made 12 starts this year; he’s completed five innings in 11 of them, and allowed two earned runs or fewer in 8 of them. He’s basically been a gift from the heavens.

But neither of those things qualify as the “big news” from last night. No, that would be that that George Sherrill, just hours after I pointed out that he hadn’t struck a single man out in six weeks, struck out the first (and only) batter he faced last night, Aubrey Huff in the 8th inning.

I’ll try to continue to use my power for good, and not evil. Maybe.

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I can’t really let this Matt Kemp situation pass without commenting. Wasn’t the entire point of Joe Torre the fact that while he may be a terrible in-game strategist, he was supposed to be outstanding at avoiding clubhouse issues? Benching Kemp for one game was the right thing to do for a struggling hitter. The second game seemed odd, but more rest couldn’t hurt. But the third game in a row, well, that really set off the alarm bells.

Jon Weisman ran down the chronology of what happened here, and it’s #5 – emphasis Jon’s, because clearly I’m not the only one horrified by it – that really blows my mind.

1) Torre and Kemp talked.
2) Torre told Kemp he would start Wednesday.
3) Torre said Kemp is struggling and has been frustrated.
4) Kemp came to see Torre; Torre did not approach Kemp.
5) Torre said he didn’t know if Kemp would be starting Wednesday if Kemp hadn’t come to him.
6) Torre said if the coaching staff has something to say a player, they tell him. (I guess Torre had nothing left to tell Kemp without Kemp coming to Torre?)

The idea that Torre just tossed Kemp into the “time-out corner”, waiting for Kemp to come to him with his tail between the legs, is exactly the kind of manager I don’t want. You’ve got to either be able to manage the clubhouse, or do a good job on the field – preferably both. Right now, Torre’s not doing a great job at either one. But hey, at least he didn’t also use Ronald Belisario for the fourth time in five games as well. Oh, wait…

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Prepare yourself for what may be a hilarious outfield in this afternoon’s series finale: Manny is certainly out thanks to his hamstring pull, and Andre Ethier was scheduled to get the day off as well. No word yet on whether Manny’s absence will change Ethier’s day off, but you could be looking at a lineup that features both Garret Anderson and Reed Johnson.