Dee Gordon Is Never Boring
June 14, 2011 at 8:41 am | Posted in Chad Billingsley, Dee Gordon, Hiroki Kuroda, Matt Guerrier | 28 Comments
Dee Gordon may be a lot of things, but boring will never be one of them. When he was recalled last week, I noted that he’d electrify us all with his game-changing speed and highlight-reel plays in the field, but that he was extremely raw and with those assets would come miscues, particularly on defense. That’s exactly what happened last night; as Jon Weisman at DodgerThoughts and Tony Jackson at ESPNLA describe more fully, Gordon was speeding around the bases for a triple, beating a perfect throw home on a sacrifice fly, effortlessly making outstanding defensive plays… and booting a relatively simple grounder to start the 7th inning, an inning in which the Reds scored four to put the game away. That came after a play in the second inning in which Gordon mistimed his approach to the bag on a sure double play ball, and only got one out; with the runner safe on second, the Reds ended up getting their first run of the game later in the inning. This loss isn’t just on Gordon, as the bullpen faltered, Aaron Miles also made an error, and the collective offensive output of Gordon’s teammates was five singles. Still, if we’re going to appreciate his energy, we’re going to have to accept these mistakes as they come.
Getting back to the relief corps, as if the Dodgers needed more bullpen concerns (particularly with the news that Vicente Padilla requires neck surgery and is likely lost for the season), Matt Guerrier has been struggling terribly of late. It’s no secret that I disliked the three-year deal he was given (multiyear deals to non-elite middle relievers almost never work out), but I accepted that he’d be a decent addition to the pen, and over the first two months he was relatively reliable as the group around him changed almost daily. But over his last four games, Guerrier’s been quite ineffective each time out:
| Rk | Date | Opp | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | BF | 3B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | Jun 7 | PHI | 0.2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 31 | Jun 8 | PHI | 1.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| 32 | Jun 11 | COL | 1.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 33 | Jun 13 | CIN | 0.2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 33.0 | 32 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 24 | 1 | 144 |
Kenley Jansen is eligible to come off the disabled list and may or may not need one more rehab assignment, making him likely to return to the club this week. Guerrier could use the help, as he’s appeared in 33 games, 7th most in baseball, and the last few have been ugly. The bullpen has been held together with duct tape and string so far, and the club really can’t afford another issue right now.
The failure of the bullpen and the inability of the offense to overcome it really has to make you feel for Hiroki Kuroda, as Steve Dilbeck points out at the LA Times blog. Kuroda was once 5-3, but has now been hung with five consecutive losses to push him down to 5-8. On the surface, it sounds like he’s struggled, but we know better; the Dodgers have scored eight total runs for him in those five games. While he deserves his share of the blame for the first two, games in which he allowed four and five earned runs, he’s allowed a grand total of five earned over his last three starts. All of them go in the books as losses, despite his season xFIP of 3.50.
******
Over at the Dingers blog, Seth was lucky enough to sit down with Chad Billingsley for a great look at pitch sequencing. Billingsley was already one of our favorite pitchers, but it appears he has at least some familiarity with sabermetric principles. Well worth the click and the read.
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Who do you think will be sent down? Guerra? And do you think Dee Gordon will play winter ball to improve at SS?
Comment by Mike H— June 14, 2011 #
I’ll guess Troncoso, perhaps Lindblom. Yes, I think it’d probably make sense for Gordon to do that.
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— June 14, 2011 #
Gordon did nothing wrong. SS always get that call even though they usually don’t touch the bag. You see it all the time in double plays where the middle infielder is just close to the bag, never actually on it. Seemed like the umps were just punishing Gordon for being a rookie, basically.
Comment by Tony Fernandez— June 14, 2011 #
The problem was Dee wasn’t very close and looked a little out of sync.
Someone on BBWC seemed to think that Tron is out of options and has to be DFA’d before we can send him back to AAA. I don’t think so, but what’s the scoop, Mike?
Comment by SamAdams— June 14, 2011 #
He’s already been sent up and down this year, no? I think this is his last year of options.
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— June 14, 2011 #
Of all the positions, relief pitching would appear to be a strength on the farm, so losing Tron would not in the same domain as losing Delwyn Young or Cody Ross. I think it would send a bad message to kids like Lindblom or Guerra if they were sent down to keep from losing an seemingly ineffective relief pitcher who has been downtrending for the past two seasons.
Comment by grabarkewitz— June 14, 2011 #
He was closer than on some other plays that I’ve seen. You don’t actually have to be touching the bag usually to get that call. Umpires usually give the fielder the benefit of the doubt. It’s the neighborhood rule. If it’s going to be used, then use it. If not, then don’t use it. At least be consistent about it. That’s what annoys me about it.
Comment by Tony Fernandez— June 14, 2011 #
He was pretty far off and moving really fast. Neighborhood plays usually also include a pause near the bag. Frustrating for us fans, but the umps got that call right.
Comment by Dave Pomerantz— June 14, 2011 #
Gordon has messed up on some other double plays too. That’s the thing I think he needs to work on the most.
Comment by Bip— June 14, 2011 #
that Guerrier is a bum. BUM. bum. most of the pitchers in that bullpen are losers anways. we need to clean house, get rid of all these loser players. (kemp, Ethier, Kershaw, Bills, Carroll, and Gordon exceptions). how can we win with a bullpen that cant hold leads late in games?
Comment by format— June 14, 2011 #
Guerrier appears to be a very overpriced bum recently, but as for the rest of the bullpen, keep in mind that right now most of those guys are very young and inexperienced, and forced into high pressure, close and late game situations. I’m not really ready to give up on the Guerras, Lindbloms, or Hawksworths yet. And I’d include Kuroda in your veteran exceptions list.
Comment by Dave Pomerantz— June 14, 2011 #
I like hawksworth, and Jansen, they have potential to be good. the rest of the guys are complete and total losers. either they come in and lob 87MPH meatballs until the game is blown, or they walk 800 batters until the game is blown. our only hope is Kuo and jansen come back strong. I like Kuroda, but he might get traded soon. they need to start selling players off now, in order to rebuild for next year.
Comment by format— June 14, 2011 #
No way Kuroda gets traded. Full no trade clause, and he has repeatedly showed no interest in playing anywhere other than LA. And I love him for that.
Comment by Dave Pomerantz— June 14, 2011 #
I like Hawksworth, Lindblom, and Guerra, too. If we can get Kuo and Jansen healthy and if Broxton can come close to his previous best form, we would have a very formidable pen.
MacDougal can light up the radar gun at 97, but not on too many consecutive nights. When he throws strikes, he can be very effective. He was a very good closer for KC before injuries curtailed his career. I would not give up on him, either, realizing there were about three qualifiers in those last two sentences. Elbert can be electric, but his inconsistency scares me.
If we had Padilla and MIA Belisario at their best, we’d be in a position of great bullpen strength. Crap, Ned would be trading Guerra, Lindblom, and Guerra for some POdSednik type.
Comment by SamAdams— June 14, 2011 #
>> But over his last four games, Guerrier’s been quite ineffective each time out:
.
The June 7 Phillies game (the first of those four) wasn’t so bad. He walked the leadoff batter, then got the next two outs. The only reason he was tagged with a run is that they yanked him to bring in Elbert as a LOOGY and that didn’t work out when Utley tripled to score Guerrier’s runner from first.
.
And if you’re going to look at his last four appearances, it’s only fair to also look at the four appearances before that, too – in which he pitched 4.1 innings and allowed a total of one hit and one walk (no runs). Heck, for that matter, prior to those last three games, he appeared in 30 games and only two were real stinkers in which he allowed more than one run. Allowing one run or less in 28 out of 30 (or 33) games is something we could only wish for from any of our relievers (especially big guys with an “x” in the middle of their last name).
Comment by nsxtasy— June 14, 2011 #
Guerrier is Ned’s newest Pierre. He doesn’t have the ability to live up to the kind of contract he received. He’s a serviceable reliever, but not a 3 year, $21M kind of pitcher. Guerrier will be perceived badly because of that contract, same as JP. You can’t really blame them. What are they going to say to their agent? “Tell Mr. Colletti that he is overpaying for my skill set, and to only give me one year at half the offered rate?”
Comment by SamAdams— June 14, 2011 #
at first I thought the signing of Guerrier was smart, considering all the injuries to the blowpen. he was decent at first, until he began his inevitable disintegration into the complete and total loser that he is. hes just a completly ineffective relief pitcher. throwing 88MPH meatballs to guys like Joey Votto dont cut it.
Comment by format— June 14, 2011 #
Geez, lay off of the guy. How do you get “complete and total loser” from a guy who’s had 5 effective seasons and 1 ineffective one? His BABIP is at a career high right now, and his walk rate is way higher than his career rate, so it will probably come down. Plus, didn’t everyone struggle on this road trip, particularly in Colorado?
Comment by Bip— June 14, 2011 #
come on Bip, you did watch the games right? I admit I thought he was a smart pickup this offseason. I looked at his stats in Minnesota, and he put up decent numbers, but I had never seen him pitch before, woa boy was I wrong. he is a completly ineffective pitcher. throwing 87mph meatballs to Joey Votto puts oneself in the complete and total loser category. now I know what Mike means when he talks about meaningless ERA
Comment by format— June 14, 2011 #
You’re absolutely right. It’s not the player’s fault that he’s being overpaid. Guerrier is an above average reliever, but is being paid as an elite reliever. Again, not his fault.
When I get a raise at work, I sure don’t ask my boss, “Man, are you SURE? Am I really worth that?”
Comment by Jeff M.— June 14, 2011 #
Agreed, Sam, you’re dead on. ($12m, not $21m though. That’s Uribe. Ugh.)
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— June 14, 2011 #
Sorry, got a little dyslexic with my typing there. Actually, I think what created the exaggeration was the thought that Goltzier will be making the same money as Jesse Crain in 2012 and 2013.
Comment by SamAdams— June 14, 2011 #
I was going to say that Uribe is the next Pierre, but I think JP at least played up to his previous years performance.
Comment by DAVID S— June 14, 2011 #
I’d agree with that. Pierre was lousy, but we all knew he’d be lousy – he played just as he did before. I hated the Uribe deal, but he’s been FAR worse than he was for San Francisco.
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— June 14, 2011 #
we all know uribe has been horrible but let’s wait and see I have a feeling If we can get back into contention he mite come through for us later in season, he seems to not get phased by nething and he did come through for giants in the postseason last year
Comment by scullyfan24— June 14, 2011 #
Re: Uribe postseason: Swing hard enough, often enough, and you never know when you’ll hit a baseball. See: Barajas, Rod
Comment by jWerthFan— June 15, 2011 #
[...] hit just .232/.250/.280 in 22 games before being sent back down for Furcal in early July, and had games like this… Gordon was speeding around the bases for a triple, beating a perfect throw home on a [...]
Pingback by MSTI’s 2011 in Review: Shortstop « Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— October 13, 2011 #
[...] of his first nine starts, but he didn’t always get the support he deserved, as we noted on June 14: The failure of the bullpen and the inability of the offense to overcome it really has to make you [...]
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