Changes in the Bullpen
August 13, 2010 at 5:58 pm | Posted in Hong-Chih Kuo, Jonathan Broxton, Octavio Dotel | 14 CommentsI’m still working on my mega-Broxton post (believe me, it’ll be interesting), but in the meantime we have changes at the back end of the bullpen. Dylan Hernandez, take it away:
Kuo is the #Dodgers‘ closer — for now. Dotel will be closing tonight if the #Dodgers are ahead.
This is going to be seen, I’m sure, as a massive demotion for Broxton. I don’t think it should be seen as such, but it’s the right move. As both Eric Stephen and Steve Dilbeck called for, Broxton needs to not be the closer right now. You can chalk up his struggles to whatever you want – overuse, injury, mechanics, etc. – but he’s not getting the job done. He needs some time to recharge, time the Dodgers probably don’t have right now (this if you’re still under the impression they’re in contention, which I am not), so it’s the right move for him and for the team. I think that once he gets himself together, he deserves to get his job back – and he will.
Hernandez explains further:
Torre said he will still use Broxton in close games; just wants to take him out of closing role until he gets his feet under him.
Exactly. I’m fully behind this move, for now. So they turn to Hong-Chih Kuo, one hell of an option, because he’s been all but untouchable. Of course, he’s pitched two nights in a row and is almost certainly unavailable tonight, so they’ll go with Octavio Dotel, as Hernandez said.
Here’s the problem with Dotel, though: he’s basically the opposite of George Sherrill. Dotel crushes righties, allowing them only a .176/.238/.330 line so far this year. But lefties kill him, to the tune of .304/.424/.594. Unfortunately for Torre, he may not have any great options tonight should the Dodgers have a lead in a close game.
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If there’s one concern I have, it’s this: despite the panicked effort by the club to act as though they’re in the race, they’re not. It’s just not their year. What really worries me is the idea that in the effort to pretend they’re contending, fragile arms like Kuo (now allowed to pitch on back-to-back nights) and young rookie Kenley Jansen will be overworked in the name of finishing 6 games out of the playoffs. That’s not even close to worth it, and that’s something I’ll be watching closely.
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Oh, I almost forgot. This blog is bashing me. Or not. I can’t even really tell, but I like it anyway.
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Well, if anyone can screw up a pitching staff, it’s our Joe.
That said, this is mostly a good move — at least in terms of taking some pressure off of Broxton and giving him some rest (ironic that it would take last night for Torre to finally consider using him in a non-save situation), but not so much in terms of potentially overworking Kuo and letting Dotel face lefties.
Fortunately for Jansen, there’s not a lot of the season left, so I don’t think even Torre can use him to the point of breaking him. But maybe that’s his goal for the rest of the year.
Comment by Bill Grabarkewitz— August 13, 2010 #
We can only hope we need a closer tonight against Hudson. He’s been near Cy Young material this season.
It’s strange that just when we had the pitching staff in what appeared to be a very strong state (no Ortizes, no Giants castoffs, and with solid pitchers top to bottom), the pen blows up in epic proportions. Not that there were not obvious signs of Broxton’s ineffectiveness, but last night should have never even come down to Broxton and if Blake starts that double play, we’re looking for back to back road series win (as opposed to being on suicide watch.)
Comment by SamAdams— August 13, 2010 #
How much are you guys bidding on this? http://auction.steinersports.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prrfnbr=128444938&prmenbr=55076099&aunbr=128791648
Comment by DodgersKings323— August 13, 2010 #
If it’s his farewell press conference, it’s priceless.
Comment by Bill Grabarkewitz— August 13, 2010 #
I’m in favor of giving Broxton a break. But if it happens at the expense of Kuo’s arm, that’s definitely not a good move.
Comment by Jeff— August 13, 2010 #
MSTI,
As someone reporting on things going on in LA. You should just remember the old Hollywood saying.–’No publicity is bad publicity’. We know you get paid by the International Blogging Association by the number of hits you get. So stop whinning and cash those checks
Comment by Davids— August 13, 2010 #
And as far as being ‘out of contention’ If we can win 37 of the last 46 we should still make it as the wild card.
Comment by Davids— August 13, 2010 #
I’m not going to rag on Torre for last night’s loss. Broxton was in the limelight, but “what if” Casey had turned that DP ball instead of letting it go through his legs for two runs? My real beef with Torre is not just the many bonehead calls he has made all year, but it’s his lack of real leadership throughout the season. He walks like a zombie when goes out to the mound and sometimes I think he is sleepwalking when the camera pans him in the dugout. I suspect he is counting the days until the season (and his managing career with the team) is over. These are the outward signs of a guy who has totally failed to provide the team with motivation and inspiration. Take a look at the Padres and Giants when the camera pans their dugouts. I don’t think they have better overall skills than the Dodgers. But what they do have is first class managers who inspire their teams to victory. Comparing the excitement in the Padres and Giants dugout to that of the Dodgers tells it all. Right now the Dodgers are floundering and the only way they have a chance to make a race of it, or at least to go with out with some grace, is to get inspired. I’m not sure where that’s going to come from.
Comment by Joel Goldman— August 13, 2010 #
I agree with the sprit of this post. I remember the days of Tommy Lasorda, who gets bashed routinely by many Dodger fans but was absolutely great at motivating his team. We could use some of that now.
Comment by Shmolnick— August 13, 2010 #
Wasn’t 2 weeks ago you armchair quarterbacks were moaning that it was Torre’s fault for losing a game because he didn’t bring in Broxton.
Comment by Ray— August 13, 2010 #
My little brother, San Diego’s oldest living baseball pitcher, is convinced that the epidemic of arm injuries and declining performance among MLB is both predictable and preventable.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Why-Strasburgs-Shoulder-Aches-and-Others-are-Losing-Velocity
Comment by Eric— August 14, 2010 #
Joe treats relief pitchers the way that his Dad treated him. Get over it! If you do not have the analytical ability to understand the limitations of a pitcher, ie., can’t pitch on 4 days rest, can’t pitch 3 days in a row, can’t pitch more than 25 innings, then just retire and do us all a favor.
Comment by Ken— August 14, 2010 #
[...] next day, Broxton was removed from the closing role in favor of Hong-Chih Kuo, a move I supported. It’s hard not to see that Yankee game as a major turning point in his season; while he was [...]
Pingback by MSTI’s 2010 in Review: Relievers, Part 1 « Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— November 8, 2010 #
[...] put, no one hit Kuo, any time, any place. By August, with Jonathan Broxton proving unreliable, Kuo moved into the main closer’s role, and ended up notching nine saves in the last six weeks, and he’s likely to see time there [...]
Pingback by MSTI’s 2010 in Review: Relievers, Part 2 « Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— November 10, 2010 #