SB Nation - Shawn Estes

NL West represents well on NL All-Star roster

Poseidon's Fist — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:19:48 -0000

It might seem strange voting for a hitter on one of the most hapless offenses in the league, but the Kung Fu Panda makes a compelling case to be in St. Louis Tuesday.

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Despite having two of the worst teams in the National League, the NL West will be well represented in next Tuesday's All-Star Game in St. Louis. Five (one-third) of the National League's teams placed just their one obligitory All-Star on the team, and none of those five teams came from the NL West.

Not bad for an oft ignored and chided division, sans Los Angeles, especially considering the fans voted in exactly zero NL West starters. Note that Brad Hawpe could start if Raul Ibanez cannot play, and Ibanez isn't going to push it. Justin Upton and to a lesser degree Hunter Pence will provide stiff competition for Brandon.

Eleven divisional players are guaranteed to be on the NL roster of 33 players - the NL East has 11 and the NL Central has 10 despite having an additional team. The final roster slot will be voted on by the fans. Vote here by Thursday at 2PM MDT. None of the five possibilities are from the NL Central, and in fact, the majority of the choices come from your very own NL West. Shane Victorino and Christian Guzman are east coast names with All-Star appearances under their belt already, so they are legitimate threats to give the NL East the most All-Stars with 12.

But if voters are paying attention, the 33rd NL All-Star really deserves to come from the NL West:

Name	Team	Avg	HR	RBI	wOBA	OPS+	WAR
Pablo Sandoval	SF	.333	12	44	.403	149	2.7
Mark Reynolds	AZ	.269	24	61	.394	134	2.4
Matt Kemp	LA	.305	10	44	.371	123	3.5
Shane Victorino	PHI	.300	5	35	.357	112	1.3
Cristian Guzman	WAS	.318	3	21	.328	101	0.9

My vote goes for Sandoval, though I wouldn't complain if Reynolds or Kemp got in. Just PLEASE not Victorino or Guzman - and that's not an "NL West" bias. Maybe if Kemp is selected, it will convince Joe Torre to quit batting him eighth.

Huston Street may slide in as an injury replacement, but in addition to Colorado's current All-Stars Brad Hawpe and Jason Marquis, the latter of which Erik Manning at FanGraphs protests as an All-Star (but no worries - he wanted Ubaldo Jimenez instead), here are the division's other nine guaranteed All-Stars:

Arizona:

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Dan Haren	8-5	2.16	0.83	119	15

	AVG	OBP	SLG
2009 - Justin Upton	.300	.378	.540

Los Angeles:

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Chad Billingsley	9-4	3.14	1.20	115	51

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Jonathan Broxton	6-0	2.72	0.86	65	16

	AVG	OBP	SLG
2009 - Orlando Hudson	.287	.355	.416

San Diego:

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Heath Bell	3-1	1.49	1.05	40	15

	AVG	OBP	SLG
2009 - Adrian Gonzalez	.263	.407	.562

San Francisco:

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Tim Lincecum	9-2	2.23	1.05	141	30

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Matt Cain	9-2	2.48	1.23	88	44

Other News:

Big move: Scott Hairston was traded to Oakland for minor league pitchers Ryan Webb, Craig Italiano and a PTBNL. Rejoice! We won't have to face Hairston for several years, though it is now stange Hairston and Matt Holliday, both principal in this game, will be manning the same outfield. However, as Ken Rosenthal suggests, this trade might actually open the door for Holliday to be traded. Hairston was surprised and disappointed, Dave Cameron does not approve, and GasLampBall isn't happy. San Diego's starting outfield is now Chase Headley, Tony Gwynn Jr and Kyle Blanks, with Will Venable as the chief backup.

Reality Check: In losing three of four series, two to divisional foes, one would think the Rockies have lost considerable ground in the playoff race recrently. Au contraire! The Rox' 5-5 record in their past 10 is tied for best in the NL West; moreover, no team with a better record in the NL did any better than 5-5 over their past 10 games.

A full NL West Report after the jump.

NL West Report

Arizona (33-49, 5th, W2, 19 GB)

Last Week: 1-2 @ Reds, 2-1 @ Rockies. The D-Backs are only 3-7 in their past 10, but two of those wins came in consecutive games against the Rox over the weekend.

This Week: 3 game home series vs Padres, 4 game home series vs Marlins.

News: Arizona is making progress in negotiations with 1st rounder Bobby Borchering and hope to sign him this month.

Dan Haren will not be traded. Good idea.

Arizona is scouting the Red Sox in hopes of finding a match for a Chad Tracy trade.

Yusmeiro Petit was activated in the only DL move of the week.

Arizona Diamondbacks Injuries

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Eric Byrnes	hand	06/26/2009
Chris Snyder	lower-back	06/21/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Tom Gordon	hamstring	05/04/2009
Conor Jackson	pneumonia	05/12/2009
Brandon Webb	shoulder	04/07/2009

Los Angeles (48-28, 1st, L2)

Last Week: 2-1 vs Rockies, 2-1 @ Padres. Los Angeles allowed thrice the runs in the San Diego series at Petco than their home series vs the Rockies but still pulled out a series win in both. Go figure.

This Week: 3 game road series @ Mets, 3 game road series @ Brewers. No one has less road losses than the Dodgers, so finishing on the road isn't a huge deal, but at least they are against contenders.

News: Some dude with ridiculous hair started on Friday. I guess it's a big deal. He did not start yesterday due to sore legs, and is 1-7 with a solo home run since his return.

Buster Olney suggests a trade involving Javier Vazquez and Juan Pierre. Such a trade would bolster the Dodgers' rotation and get a big contract off the bench. Too good to be true for sure.

Perhaps a decent rotation bolstering move would be to just call up Jason Schmidt, who had another solid start in AAA last week.

Joe Beimel wants to go back to Los Angeles. Really? You mean you'd rather be on MLB's best team than the worst?

Shawn Estes is setting himself up for a forced retirement. The lefty is sick of AAA and has "retired from the minor leagues" but wants desperately to pitch in the majors. He has contacted every MLB team stressing he wants a major league job - the 36 year old was 3-4 with a 3.07 ERA (5.20 tRA) at AAA Albuquerque.

LHP Hong-Chih Kuo was moved to the 60-day DL, while Claudio Vargas was activated from it. Eric Milton went back to the 15-day, while Blake DeWitt was recalled from AAA.

Los Angeles Dodgers Injuries

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Eric Milton	back	06/28/2009
Will Ohman	shoulder	05/28/2009
Jason Schmidt	shoulder	03/30/2009
Xavier Paul	knee	05/21/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Doug Mientkiewicz	shoulder	04/17/2009
Hong-Chih Kuo	elbow	04/30/2009

San Diego (35-46, 4th, L1, 16.5 GB)

Last Week: 1-3 vs Astros. 1-2 vs Dodgers. Perhaps this is the beginning of the Padres' long awaited fade. A 2-5 week at home is a poor way to set up for a 7 game divisional road trip before the All-Star Break, especially with that horrific 12-26 road record. The Pads are just 6 runs behind Washington for the worst run differential in MLB.

This Week: 3 game road series @ Diamondbacks, 4 game road series @ Giants.

News: Despite poor performance on the field and an abominable run differential, the Padres will extend Bud Black's contract. I can't argue - to be within 11 games of .500 with that roster is more than commendable. Former AZ manager Bob Melvin will take an "unspecified job" with San Diego.

Yahoo's Gordon Edes suggests Heath Bell will be the most desired relief pitcher for the deadline, not that this surprises anyone. Bell is making just $1.25mil and has two years of arbitration left. I would love to add Bell, but not at the expense it would require to outbid other teams for the dominant, cheap closer.

Heath Bell

#21 / Pitcher / San Diego Padres

Height: 6-3

Weight: 240

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Sep 29, 1977

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Heath Bell	3-1	1.49	1.05	40	15

The sell-off isn't complete with Hairston or even Bell if he is traded. Officials have made it clear that Kevin Kouzmanoff is available, and Seattle may be interested with Adrian Beltre out, though they will wait a couple weeks to pull the trigger. The Padres appear to be open to trading every offensive weapon they have other than Adrian Gonzalzez. They're about to run out.

There was such a buzz at Petco Park for Manny Ramirez' return Friday. Literally. A swarm of bees descended on Petco Park Thursday to delay the game. Corey Brock has video interviews.

Henry Blanco was added to the 15-day DL Sunday with a hamstring injury. Rookie catcher Jose Lobaton will takes his place, replacing Edwin Moreno on the 40-man. Lobaton made his debut yesterday - AT SECOND BASE as a defensive replacement for injured David Eckstein.

San Diego Padres Injuries

Doubtful

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
David Eckstein	other-excused	07/06/2009

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Jake Peavy	ankle	06/09/2009
Luke Gregerson	shoulder	06/08/2009
Chris Young	shoulder	06/15/2009
Nick Hundley	wrist	06/18/2009
Brian Giles	knee	06/19/2009
Henry Blanco	hamstring	07/05/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Mark Worrell	elbow	03/27/2009
Cha Seung Baek	forearm	03/30/2009
Shawn Hill	elbow	04/26/2009
Cliff Floyd	shoulder	06/18/2009

San Francisco (44-37, 2nd, L1, 7.5 GB)

Last Week: 2-2 @ Cardinals, 2-1 vs Astros. The Giants won the first two games in both series and now have the second best run differential in the NL. It's getting harder and harder to write them off despite their joke offense. In the past week, they've improved their playoff odds by 10% yet are still projected to finish with two less wins than Colorado.

This Week: 3 game home series vs Marlins, 4 game home series vs Padres.

News: Tim Lincecum has been dominant. Too dominant. Andrew Baggarly points out that the Giants cost themselves an additional arbitration year with the Cy Young Award winner when promoting him a month early in their non-contending 2007 season. Since Lincecum will be up for a huge payday with his performance, an additional arbitration year could cost the Giants a lot of money...and perhaps Lincecum himself if they fall out of contention in the next few years. Lincecum beat out Aaron Cook and Jason Hammel for NL Pitcher of the month in June. Frankly, he deserved it much more.

Tim Lincecum

#55 / Pitcher / San Francisco Giants

Height: 5-11

Weight: 170

Bats: L

Throws: R

Born: Jun 15, 1984

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Tim Lincecum	9-2	2.23	1.05	141	30

Ryan Sadowski has had a very good start to his MLB career, and he has one perso to thank for getting him his break in the majors: his mother.

The Giants are not interested in Jermaine Dye or Victor Martinez due to the necessity of including Madison Bumgarner in the trade package. However, they are rumored to have discussions with Pittsburgh regarding Freddy Sanchez and Adam LaRoche.

Kevin Pichardo was added to the 15-day DL with a shoulder injury early last week after coming off his 50-game suspension for steroids. Randy Johnson left his start yesterday with a strained shoulder and his MRI results are unknown. Pablo Sandoval is tore off the skin on his right knee while sliding into home plate Saturday and sat out Sunday's game with an additional bruise. He is expected to play today..

San Francisco Giants Injuries

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Pablo Sandoval	knee	07/06/2009

Doubtful

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Randy Johnson	shoulder	07/06/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Noah Lowry	ribs	03/27/2009
Kelvin Pichardo	shoulder	06/28/2009
Joe Martinez	concussion	04/10/2009

Poll

Who gets your vote for All Star #33?

Kung Fu Panda (Sandoval)

89 votes

Special K (Reynolds)

28 votes

The Bison (Kemp)

22 votes

The Flying Hawaiian (Victorino)

6 votes

No nickname (Guzman)

6 votes

151 votes | Poll has closed

Jason Schmidt visits the Fountain of Youth in Albuquerque

Phil Gurnee — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 17:56:38 -0000

Ponce de Leon should have headed to Albuquerque and not wasted time in Florida. Many a retread has found themselves pitching and hitting for the Isotopes this year and the results have been more then what you'd expect from your normal NRI (Non Roster Invitee) performance.

Eric Milton dipped into the Isotope pool back in April and after seeing his arm rejuvenated beyond our wildest dreams finds himself part of the Dodger rotation. Shawn Estes tried to resurrect his career and while the results were encouraging he ultimately retired. Before surgeries Scott Strickland was one of the better setup men in baseball but hasn't been able to recapture his skills after the surgeries, after shaking off some rust in April he's now the Isotope closer and has only given up a run in three of his last twenty appearances. Old Man Choi is putting up some staggering numbers that has to have the front office taking notice.

Hector Luna, Dee Brown, and Mitch Jones are all among the Pacific Coast League League Leaders. As great as Mitch Jones was doing to earn his call-up, Hector Luna has been even better. I don't understand the comparisons of Luna to Maza but that is a story for another day.

It is not just the old and in-firmed who have found the Isotope pool to their liking. Top prospect James McDonald couldn't find the strike zone for the Dodgers but once back with the Isotopes he found his A game very very quickly. Scott Elbert has been striking out a bazillion AA hitters but his control has been a problem his whole career. In his first start with the Isotopes he not only pitched a brilliant one hitter, he also only walked one batter.

However all that pales compared to what happened on Friday night. Jason Schmidt was signed to the largest Dodger contract by average annual value in history back in 2007 and has yet to make a meaningful pitch since he signed that contract. His tale is well know to even the most ignorant Dodger fan. Arm surgery, and arm surgery again. Failed rehab time after time. Even this year start and stop has been the mantra. With all that history no one expects anything from Jason Schmidt before his contract ends this year.

It may be time to readjust those expectations. Sure it was just one start but it was the first start that lets the light shine in on an otherwise dreary Dodger career. For seven and two thirds innings last night, Schmidt pushed back time and pitched like it was 2006. Could this be the real start to his comeback? I don't know how hard he threw or any of the particulars, I just know the results, and that is what I'll hang my hopes on. Hopefully he'll be able to lift his arm tomorrow.

Thinking About the Rotation

Brendan Scolari — Fri, 15 May 2009 20:30:08 -0000

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The Dodgers' rotation has been pretty good thus far. They have the lowest ERA and FIP in the NL, even with Hiroki Kuroda making only one start so far this season. Still, their numbers are based on unsustainable 5.3% HR/FB ratio, the lowest in the major leagues (the average is around 10%). Once more balls start going over the fence, the ERA won't look quite as sparkly. The starters also have allowed a collective .269 BABIP, the second lowest in the majors. Once we start to see some regression in these numbers, a starting pitcher may seem like a much more urgent need. There's been some murmurs that the pitching could be upgraded and Colletti has said that he expects to look for more arms first. So how will our rotation shake out? Here are the numbers for our starters so far:

	Starts	IP	W	L	ERA	FIP
Billingsley	8	54.2	5	1	2.30	2.95
Wolf	8	48.2	2	1	2.77	3.80
Kershaw	7	38.0	1	3	5.21	4.16
Stults	6	32.2	4	1	3.58	3.83
Weaver	2	10.0	1	0	3.60	3.38
McDonald	4	13.1	1	1	8.78	7.83
Kuroda	1	5.2	1	0	1.59	3.01
Totals	36	203.0	15	7	3.64	3.89

After the jump we'll take a look at the Dodgers' rotation options.

Chad Billingsley: Obviously, he's the ace of the rotation. There's no reason to think he won't continue to pitch well unless there is an injury of some sort. He's a candidate for the Verducci Effect but it certainly hasn't mattered yet. Eventually Billingsley will start giving up some more home runs (only 0.16 HR/9 and a 3.93 x-FIP) but he should continue to be the best option the Dodgers have.

Randy Wolf: Wolf has exceeded all expectations with a 2.77 ERA, although his 3.80 FIP shows that he hasn't actually been quite that good. He also has only alllowed a 2.43 BABIP once that regresses to the mean Wolf should be more like the average pitcher that he really is. Wolf has had numerous injury problems in the past so it's possible that one of the minor leaguers will be filling in for him in the future.

Clayton Kershaw: Kershaw's start has been disappointing for many Dodger fans, with some commenters suggesting he should be demoted to the minors after his last game. But a look at Kershaw's 4.20 FIP shows that he has been decent thus far. His 9.24 K/9 ratio is the highest of any of the starters but he has been victimized by a 64.7 LOB%, a figure that he will improve on in the future. Here's a recent article at Fangraphs documenting Kershaw's bad luck.

Eric Stults: Stults has looked pretty good so far but actually has below average walk and strikeout ratio's (3.86 BB/9 and 5.51 K/9). His success has been based on a completely unsustainable 2.1% HR/FB rate an pitching against some extremely weak lineups (5 of his 6 starts have been against the Giants and D-Backs, the two worst hitting teams in the majors). Stults' 5.50 x-FIP is actually worse than any starter on the Dodgers except for McDonald. He's an okay option as a #5 starter, but expecting anything more out of him would be wishful thinking.

Hiroki Kuroda: Kuroda has been hurt since Opening Day and still might not be back for awhile. His return would be huge in stabilizing the rotation once some of the other starters start performing closer to expectations. He went on the DL last year too though so I wouldn't count on him as a lock to stay healthy the rest of the season. Kuroda's numbers in his Dodger career would easily make him our #2 starter.

Eric Milton: Milton has been called up and will start for the Dodgers on Saturday against the Marlins. He hasn't pitched since having elbow ligament replacement surgery in 2007 and hasn't had an ERA below five since 2004. He does have a 2.83 ERA with a 4.50 K/BB ratio in AAA this year. Unless he has redicovered his pre-2003 form, It would probably be bad if he is expected to be in the rotation for any length of time.

Jeff Weaver: Weaver is probably the best of the veteran retreads, but it seems he has already lost his chance. Despite Weaver's 4.55 x-FIP with the Dodgers I guess he hasn't eaten enough innings to satisfy Torre.

James McDonald: McDonald was the original 5th starter but his control problems quickly cost him his job. McDonald was sent down to AAA yesterday and will try to figure things out. McDonald had a 0.43 K/BB ratio and a 7.88 FIP so his struggles weren't due to bad luck.

Josh Lindblom: Lindblom was only drafted last year but already looks like he could be a fixture in the rotation in the future. There was a possibility that he could start with the team after spring training but when that didn't work out he was assigned to AA Chattanooga. His 4.76 ERA in 28.2 innings belies his great peripherals. He's got 25 strkeouts and only 3 walks thus far. Lindlbom has the best chance of anyone in the minors of being an above average starter in 2009.

Shawn Estes/Claudio Vargas: Estes has a 3.61 ERA with a 2.75 K/BB ratio in AAA this year. He's also 36, has had injury problems the last three years, and hasn't been any good in the majors since 2002. Vargas is okay as rotation depth and has been a decent #5 starter in the past but has been out the whole season because of problems with his elbow. He is currently on 60-day DL.

Jason Schmidt: Schmidt has been out nearly two years and shouldn't be counted on to contribute at all this year. That said, he is rehabbing and progessing and it's possible that he could join the rotation at some point. Torre said of Schmidt, "He's continuing to build momentum... I think he's still a ways away".

Alternatives: So, what else can we do? Other than trying Ramon Troncoso out as a starter, there's not many other options with the club. Is this rotation good enough? I think we can win the West with it, but we certainly don't have much depth. If one of the top four starters is hurt, we could even end up starting Stults or Milton in the playoffs. There are still some veteran free agent starters, including Pedro Martinez, Paul Byrd, and Odalis Perez. Ben Sheets could potentially be an impact option sometime around the All-Star break. As for trades there are lots of starting pitchers that could be traded around the trading deadline. Headliners could be Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Jake Peavy, and Erik Bedard. These guys will all take top talent to land though.

There's still lots of time to figure out solutions but improving the rotation could be Ned Colletti's biggest challenge this season.

Poll

Ideally, what happens to our rotation this year?

Leave it as is. Once Kuroda returns, we'll be good.

94 votes

Bring Lindblom up and put him in the rotation.

28 votes

Sign one of the veteran free agents and/or try Milton and Estes.

37 votes

Make a trade for an upgrade.

103 votes

Other (specify in comments)

5 votes

267 votes | Poll has closed

Do as Venetians do - San Diego is sinking into oblivion

Poseidon's Fist — Mon, 04 May 2009 18:06:43 -0000

More photos » by Gus Ruelas - AP

The Padres are knee-deep in quicksand. I'm doubting Adrian Gonzalez can generate as much power like that.

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Rockies drop in for two at Petco

It has been just five days since we last saw San Diego at Coors Field, when Cook got his first win of the season. The weekend was unkind to the Rockies, but San Diego fared even worse.

Despite scoring one more run (5) than the Rockies did over the weekend, the Padres lost all three games to the Dodgers, plus another one on Thursday for good measure.

That equates to a five game losing streak, losses in eight of their last nine, and 11 of 13, and those two wins were by just one run. The Mini-Pads have already wasted their surprising start, and a loss tonight means that despite all of the Rockies' problems, we will have company in the cellar.

San Diego Padres (11-14, L5, 4th in NL

West)

Monday-Tuesday : 2-game series at San Diego

Losing streaks sabotage a team's run differential, so maybe it's not surprising that the Pads are now worse in that department than every NL team save the Nationals. As noted last week, the Padres have been beneficiaries of eeking out close wins, while the Rockies' only successful recipe is to build a large lead early, like they did last week against tonight's starting pitcher.

A couple other interesting points:

San Diego's typically strong pitching is fourth-to-last in the NL even with the benefit of Petco.
Heath Bell may have 8 saves, but San Diego is fourth in the league in blown saves, with twice as many as Colorado.

Probable Pitchers:

Tonight, 8:05pm MDT

Good Jorge has been real good lately, allowing no more than two runs in his last three starts, but Good Jorge is still Winless Jorge with poor run support. The Rockies lost his start vs San Diego 4-3 thanks to Alan Embree and Manny Corpas. Hopefully the blister he developed in that start has been neutralized. DLR is 0-1 with a 5.29 ERA is his career against San Diego.

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Jorge De La Rosa	0-2	3.57	1.41	20	12

Todd Helton and Chris Iannetta homered off Correia last Wednesday in jumping out to a 3-0 lead. Those are the only home runs Correia has given up this year, but he is winless and has had a problem pitching late into games.

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Kevin Correia	0-2	4.71	1.57	17	14

Tuesday, May 5, 8:05 MDT

Cookie got his first win facing these Padres last Wednesday. He had a shutout going into the seventh but allowed home runs to Henry Blanco and Adrian Gonzalez. Facing the Pads will be even more advantageous. Has the real Aaron Cook shown up?

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Aaron Cook	1-1	7.11	1.82	13	12

Josh Geer was supposed to face Colorado in Chad Gaudin's spot last week but instead got pushed to Thursday against LA, where he gave up 4 runs in six innings, thanks to home runs by Manny Ramirez and Orlando Hudson. But beware, his FIP is nearly a full run lower than his ERA, he has a funky pitching motion, and he did well against Colorado last year (1-1, 2.70).

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Josh Geer	0-0	5.29	1.18	9	0

Luis Rodriguez is 7-for-16 in his past seven games, and Brian Giles is 6-of-16.

Kevin Kouzmanoff has just one hit in his past 20 attempts, and he has gone down on strikes 9 times in that span. Chase Headley is only 3 for his last 18, and Adrian Gonzalez has managed one measley hit better than Headley with the same number of ABs.

Nothing new to report from last Monday.

NL West Report after the jump.

NL West Report

Arizona (11-14, t-3rd, L1)

Last Week: 2-1 vs Cubs, 2-2 at Brewers

This Week:2 game series @ Dodgers, 2 game series @ Padres, 3 game series vs Nationals

News: As reported last week, the D-Backs could be sellers at the trading deadline. With Brandon Webb injured and not a trading candidate, Nick Piecoro suggests Doug Davis could be traded.

Doug Davis

#49 / Pitcher / Arizona Diamondbacks

Height: 6-4

Weight: 215

Bats: R

Throws: L

Born: Sep 21, 1975

Other candidates are Felipe Lopez and Jon Garland. With our luck, the D-Backs will completely collapse and land the first overall pick. Again.

Tom Gordon's return to the bullpen didn't last long. He landed on the15-day DL today after injuring his leg making a tag at home yesterday. It's highly probable that Gordon will be on the DL for longer than 15 days.

Justin Upton is finally breaking out his bat in 2009, this time not against the Rockies. His moonshot at Milwaukee over the weekend was impressive, though it was mere feet longer than Dreamy's shot last week.

Arizona Diamondbacks Injuries

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Tom Gordon	hamstring	05/04/2009
Stephen Drew	hamstring	04/25/2009
Brandon Webb	shoulder	04/07/2009

Los Angeles (18-8, 1st, W4)

Last Week: 1-2 @ Giants, 4-0 vs Padres

This Week: 2 game series vs. D-Backs, 2 game home series vs. Nationals, 3 game home series vs. Giants. Twenty-six games into the season, the Dodgers have yet to lose a home game at 10-0. That trend should change this week with all 7 games at home. We can only hope.

News: The Dodgers are winning, but outside of Randy Wolf and early Cy Young candidate Chad Billingsley, their rotation is highly unstable. Yahoo's Tim Brown reflects on the rotation status. It is very unlikely that the Dodgers will acquire a starting pitcher with Hiroki Kuroda, Shawn Estes, Eric Milton and Jason Schmidt as in house possibilities.

Jason Schmidt

#29 / Pitcher / Los Angeles Dodgers

Height: 6-4

Weight: 210

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Jan 29, 1973

Speaking of Schmidt, he is rehabbing well in extended spring training. He threw 89 pitches in 7 innings before being hit with a line drive off his shin. In another bizarre twist, Schmidt was supposed to be making a rehab start in the minors but reported to extended spring training stemming from a "miscommunication."

Hiroki Kuroda is still weeks from returning.

Los Angeles Dodgers Injuries

Probable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Manny Ramirez	hamstring	05/04/2009

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Hong-Chih Kuo	elbow	04/30/2009
Jason Schmidt	shoulder	03/30/2009
Hiroki Kuroda	oblique	04/07/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Doug Mientkiewicz	shoulder	04/17/2009
Claudio Vargas	elbow	04/05/2009

San Diego (11-14, t-3rd, L5)

Last Week: 1-2 at Rockies, 0-4 at Dodgers.

This Week: 2 game home series vs Rockies, 2 game home series vs D-Backs, 3 game road series vs Astros

News: Kevin Towers may shake up the roster if the Padres continue to fall apart, but without resources, trades won't be involved. Those changes would more than likely be restocking the pitching staff with AAA arms. Warm body for warm body. Good luck with that.

New CEO Jeff Moorad did a chat with fans on MLB.com. Of note, he stated that he would like to keep Jake Peavy, though "no one player is untouchable." Except maybe Adrian Gonzalez, who he stated could be signed to an extension before 2010.

After getting run out of Coors Field Monday, Chris Young recognized he has to limit the thefts, but stating it "doesn't change the way I'm pitching" is pretty counterproductive to that goal.

San Diego Padres Injuries

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Shawn Hill	elbow	04/26/2009
Cha Seung Baek	forearm	03/30/2009
Walter Silva	forearm	04/14/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Mark Worrell	elbow	03/27/2009
Mike Adams	shoulder	03/27/2009
Everth Cabrera	hand	04/20/2009

San Francisco (12-11, 2nd, W1)

Last Week: 2-1 vs Dodgers, 2-1 vs Rockies. The Giants have now won five consecutive series, winning two games in each.

This Week: 2 game road series at Cubs, 2 game road series at Giants, 3 game road series at Dodgers. It will be difficult for the Giants to stay hot this week being on the road all week, especially when they visit Chavez Ravine this weekend.

News: Jason Whitlock thinks the Royals should sign Barry Bonds. Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle thinks Bonds should retire.

Barry Bonds

#25 / Left Field / San Francisco Giants

Height: 6-2

Weight: 240

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Jul 24, 1964

Count both on my feet in Schulman's camp. Andrew Baggarly had a conversation with Bonds, which was as enlightening as usual.

The Giants offense has been abysmal. Grant at MCC has a comical scouting report on the specific type of pitcher that neutralizes the Frisco bats.

Forbes named AT&T Park the best MLB stadium last month.

San Francisco Giants Injuries

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Noah Lowry	shoulder	03/27/2009
Andres Torres	hamstring	04/28/2009
Sergio Romo	elbow	03/27/2009
Joe Martinez	concussion	04/10/2009

Poll

What happens in San Diego?

0 - Lose in a 2 game sweep

10 votes

1 - Split the series

35 votes

2 - First "sweep" of the season!

40 votes

85 votes | Poll has closed

After A Long Journey, The Dodgers Return Home

Eric Stephen — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:50:56 -0000

More photos » by Gus Ruelas - AP

Tonight's outing by James McDonald could determine just how long he remains in the starting rotation.

Browse more photos »

Once the Lights went down in San Francisco last night, ending the Dodgers' nine-game road trip, the Dodgers embarked on a trip home. Well, most of the Dodgers anyway. The club and Scott Elbert went their Separate Ways, with Elbert sent to Chattanooga as the Dodgers are ready to welcome back fresh-from-the-DL Cory Wade with Open Arms.

Hopefully, the return of Wade will bring some stability to the bullpen. Eventually, I believe Hong-Chih Kuo's stuff will allow him to return to the 8th inning role, but it may be some time before Joe Torre will Faithfully rely on the lefthander.

Last night's poor outing by Eric Stults may have accelerated the clamoring for a veteran starter. But, if given the choice between retreads Eric Milton, Jeff Weaver, or Shawn Estes, and the pitchers currently on the roster, I'd prefer if Only The Young were on the Dodgers. I don't care how many shutout innings the retread trio throws for Albuquerque; we already know what they are. However, since Doug Mientkiewicz can be moved to the 60-day DL to open a spot on the 40-man roster, it seems inevitable that probably Milton or Weaver will soon be on the big club.

James McDonald will take the hill tonight, in what may be an audtion to stay in the rotation, to tell the club "Don't Stop Believin' in me."

McDonald Deserves a Break Today

Eric Stephen — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 13:00:09 -0000

Dodgers (13-14) @ Rockies (10-15), 1:05pm

The Dodgers' 5th starter battle has devolved into a something resembling the cast of characters from Mos Eisley, a most "wretched hive of scum and villainy." Take this with a grain of salt, but here's a rundown of the spring performances of the candidates for the final rotation slot:

Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	FIP
Estes	10.2	19	12	10	2	2	5	8.44	5.83
McDonald	12.1	13	8	8	2	6	8	5.84	5.71
Milton	14.2	24	15	8	3	5	8	4.91	6.00
Stults	8.1	15	13	12	2	7	3	12.96	8.48
Vargas	15.1	25	14	14	6	5	15	8.22	7.50

Ugh. I didn't include Jason Scmidt since (a) he only recently started pitching in "A" games, and (b) he is already out of contention for the job, at least to start the season. Look at these candidates:

Shawn Estes has been banished to the bullpen, if not his release/retirement
Eric Stults needed "a strong outing to stay alive in the fifth-starter competition," and didn't deliver today
Claudio Vargas and his major league contract might be moved to the bullpen
Eric Milton has not pitched in the big leagues since 2007, and in his last 370.2 IP, he has a 5.83 ERA (a 77 ERA+) and has given up 1.77 HR/9

That leaves James McDonald, the Dodgers' #2 rated prospect by Baseball America, yet even McDonald had been shaky this spring. That is, until his last outing, when he pitched three hitless innings against Cleveland on Saturday.

Things were so bad for the Dodgers that they promoted 21-year old Josh Lindblom -- the #4 prospect -- to big league camp last week. Lindblom has made the most of his opportunity, allowing only two runs in seven innings, walking one and striking out six. As great as it would be for Lindblom to claim a spot in the rotation, his time will probably come a few months down the road. Ken Gurnick tells us:

The likely scenario for Lindblom is to copy Clayton Kershaw's progression of last year -- last week's spring promotion from Minor League camp, impressive exhibition outings, an April assignment at Double-A and graduation to the big leagues sooner rather than later to take over for an injured or underperforming veteran.

Which means it's time for James McDonald to stake his claim for a rotation spot. He can go a long way toward that goal by performing well in his start today in Tucson against the Rockies.

James McDonald

#52 / Pitcher / Los Angeles Dodgers

Height: 6-5

Weight: 195

Bats: L

Throws: R

Born: Oct 19, 1984

Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reported that aside from Matt Kemp returning from contact lens issues, Manny and most of the regulars won't make the trip with the Dodgers today.

Jorge De La Rosa

#29 / Pitcher / Colorado Rockies

Height: 6-1

Weight: 210

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Apr 05, 1981

Lyle Spencer of MLB.com reports that Jorge De La Rosa will start for the Rockies, and will be followed by a plethora of pitchers: Huston Street, Ryan Speier, Josh Fogg, and Juan Morillo.

Be sure to get your votes in for the Sweet 16 round of the 2009 Dodger prediction bracket. Voting for this round runs through Friday afternoon.

MLB.com Box Score | Gameday

Shawn Estes and the Dodgers' LOOGY Experiment

Harry Pavlidis — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 04:17:43 -0000

Shawn Estes accepted an assignment to the Dodger's minor league camp, where he will attempt a conversion

"I'm going over there to pitch out of the bullpen," said Estes. "I'll pitch [on Tuesday], probably pitch on back-to-back days, then come back to the Major League club for the last week. I kind of like it; I'm kind of excited. It could be a new phase of my career."

Estes got his work today, and Rotoinfo had this note:

Shawn Estes, on a crash course to become a situational left-hander, relieved Schmidt and allowed two unearned runs on one hit in one inning.

Hmm, not a lot to go on. I'll speculate instead. Using PITCHf/x, of course.

Estes seems like an unlikely reliever. A junkball lefty, Estes is mostly a sinker "and the rest" pitcher. His cutter did make a comeback in 2008, during his second stint with the Padres.

	#	mph	pfx_x	pfx_z	deg	rpm
Change-Up (CH)	102	83.3	6.8	7.0	135.5	1,188.0
Curveball (CU)	73	73.5	-2.6	-5.5	153.1	648.8
Sinker (F2)	426	89.7	8.4	7.3	130.0	1,426.8
Fastball (F4)	96	89.9	5.6	10.0	149.6	1,464.5
Cutter (FC)	16	85.8	2.9	7.0	157.1	938.1

These three graphs break down Estes' pitch selection by start - the last two are split by LHH/RHH.

I broke the lines so you can easily see the May vs. September games. The #'s in parantheses are the total # of pitches for that date. In the next two charts, that number, and the rates, are isolated by batter hand.

The LHH pitch counts range from 2 to 49, so these percentages are dicey.

The cutter, rarely used, was oddly effective - it seemed to fool hitters quite a bit. More on that in a bit.

Estes labored in 2008, falling behind hitters on over half their plate appearances (54%). Not exactly a great characteristic for a relief pitcher. The problem was there for all of his pitches - except the cutter. Of which there were just 16, and only 4 thrown on a 0-0 count.

OK, so Estes fails one test, IMO - he falls behind too many hitters, both right- and left-handed (although the distribution across pitches is different). Fine, but does he have an out pitch? His 50% GB rate isn't enough to get me excited - he needs to miss some bats, especially since he tends to fall behind.

Starting with righties, here are swing and whiff rates for Estes in 2008, by pitch type:

The curveball gets observed a lot, but sports the best whiff rate. Estes' change also does well. Neither are spectacular, but both are solid.

That lefty-vs-lefty change-up is effective. I'll give him that.

Here's what Estes will go to on two-strike counts:

RHH	Ball	Strike	Change	Curve	Sinker	Fastball	Cutter
20	0	2	0.100	0.000	0.700	0.200	0.000
33	1	2	0.061	0.394	0.333	0.152	0.061
37	2	2	0.162	0.108	0.568	0.135	0.027
27	3	2	0.148	0.037	0.741	0.037	0.037

LHH	Ball	Strike	Change	Curve	Sinker	Fastball	Cutter
9	0	2	0.111	0.333	0.556	0.000	0.000
15	1	2	0.067	0.200	0.733	0.000	0.000
15	2	2	0.133	0.067	0.733	0.067	0.000
7	3	2	0.286	0.000	0.714	0.000	0.000

Why no 0-2 curves to righties? Seems to break a pattern. I should also note, there don't appear to be any actual 3rd strike change-ups to lefties by Estes in 2008, just to righties. Is that really an out pitch?

So, Estes as a LOOGY. I'm not so sure. He's not someone you want to bring in with the bases jacked, that's for sure. Maybe long relief, but a situational specialist sounds like a stretch.

Tuesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:05:11 -0000

Some things to read while everyone else is writing about the same thing.

I banged my head on my desk a few times this morning after reading this post from Tom H. which acknowledges the possibility that Mike Lamb and Tony Gwynn Jr. could start the season on the roster while Casey McGehee (who still has an option) and Chris Duffy (in camp on a minor league deal) are sent to AAA.

I get the premise: Stockpiling talent is a good thing, throwing it away is to be avoided if possible. But neither Lamb nor Gwynn are exceptional talents. Gwynn was below average in AAA each of the last two seasons and Lamb has been little more than a below average corner infielder for years now. Keeping them on the roster in place of players who could perform the same duties with a higher upside is like walking past a dollar on the sidewalk because your pockets are already full of pennies.

Meanwhile, Trot Nixon is playing his way out of camp and the Brewers have let him know he may not have a job in AAA either. (Also noted in FanShot) Nixon has played in 20 games this spring, hitting .105/.227/.211 in 38 at bats.

Speaking of players who aren't showing much this spring, if Trevor Hoffman isn't ready to start the regular season, David Riske will not be his replacement. Seth McClung is the pick over at View From Bernie's Chalet. He thinks the Brewers should take this opportunity to see if McClung can close next season, when Hoffman will likely be gone.

Regardless of how McClung starts the season, at least he knows he'll get to play somewhat regularly. Tom H. has a profile of Mike Rivera, who discusses what it was like to sit on the bench for weeks on end, including the Brewers' last 34 games in 2008.

I'm sure some Brewer fans wish Jeff Suppan would sit for weeks on end, too, but they're bound to be disappointed. With the announcement that Braden Looper will start on Thursday, Ken Macha implied that Jeff Suppan will be on the mound when the Brewers open the regular season on April 7. (Also noted in FanShot) Keeping Suppan in the #1 spot would mean the Brewers will pitch Suppan, Yovani Gallardo and Manny Parra against the Giants, then Looper, Dave Bush and Suppan again against the Cubs.

Yovani Gallardo didn't have a great day on the mound yesterday, allowing six runs in five innings, but there is one encouraging note to pass along: Gallardo was scheduled for 90 pitches yesterday but threw 98, meaning he's pretty close to being fully stretched out.

On previews, rankings and projections:

Batter's Box Interactive has twelve questions about the NL Central, and wants to know what to expect from Rickie Weeks, Bill Hall and Jeff Suppan. Don't we all?
David Chalk of Bugs & Cranks has a Brewers/Rays comparison that likely isn't actually worth your time.
The Scores Report predicts the Brewers will finish third.
MLB Outsider ranks Ryan Braun as MLB's third best left fielder.

Jeremy Jeffress throws 100 mph and has quickly climbed the ladder to Huntsville in the Brewer farm system. He's also been suspended for smoking marijuana and has never thrown 100 innings in a season. As a result, it's probably no surprise that Jeffress is included in Dugout Central's list of hyped pitching prospects likely to fail.

Another day, another economics story: The Brewers have now filed three lawsuits in five days against businesses and suiteholders who owe them payments for the 2009 season.

In other camps:

Astros: Cecil Cooper thinks the Astros can win 90 games this season.
Dodgers: Shawn Estes will remain with the team and work to make the transition to the bullpen.
Giants: Returned West Bend native and Brewer killer Ryan Rohlinger to minor league camp.
Marlins: Cleared the final hurdle yesterday in securing financing for their new stadium, and could break ground yet this summer.
Padres: Signed Shawn Hill to a minor league deal.
Rays: Returned Rule 5 pick Derek Rodriguez to the White Sox. Also, B.J. Upton is unlikely to be ready to start the regular season after taking a pitch off his hand in a minor league game.
Reds: Released Daryle Ward and Aaron Fultz.

It's good news and bad news with Nate McLouth this spring. As The Book Blog notes, he appears to understand the sabermetrics of base stealing, but is completely lost on fielding metrics.

Can one get The Book on tape? If so, Alfonso Soriano and all of his neighbors could listen to it on his ridiculous car stereo.

Denard Span will have to settle for a smaller stereo after paying his fine for sloppy pants-wearing.

As we've mentioned previously, Corey Koskie retired this week, ending his attempted return from post concussion syndrome. Minor League Ball takes a look at his unlikely career.

Finally, despite the fact that he was 42 years old, hadn't pitched in over a year and was unsigned for 2009, it was big news yesterday when Curt Schilling announced his retirement. The news was so big, in fact, that ESPN didn't even have time to make sure they weren't showing a picture of Jose Canseco instead.

Drink up.

Quick weekend update

meercatjohn — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:13:37 -0000

1. James McDonald finally saw the writing on the wall and realized that he could be the fifth starter if he got his stuff together. Boy did he ever as he threw 3 perfect innings after he walked the 2nd batter.

2. Josh Lindblom has pushed himself into the bullpen equation with another excellent performance on Friday night. Those of us with MLB.TV got to see him deliver some nasty stuff to the KC hitters. If he isn't on the team come April it appears it is just a matter of time before we see his stuff this summer.

3. As expected from the day he arrived in camp Shawn Estes was cut. The only downside of Estes being in camp was that he was taking innings from other pitchers. I hate to see the end of careers but I think Estes's major league career is at end, even though he doesn't seem to realize it. To his credit he did realize that going to our AAA team was not a good thing for him.

4. We heard some brief rumors that Juan Pierre might be headed to the White Sox. They still need a centerfielder and lead off hitter and Juan fits the bill but nothing happened and as of today he's still a Dodger.

5. Valentino Pascucci was also reassigned along with Hector Luna, Mitch Jones, Nick DeBarr, Stephen Randolph, and knuckleballer Charlie Haeger. Haeger is someone who might blossom under Hough. Pascucci would make a good option for a team who needs a RH platoon partner at 1st base. The Dodgers already have Loretta and Blake who can play 1st base so he didn't have much of a chance to stick.

6. Dodger Stadiujm should be rocking tonight when Korea and Japan tangle for the WBC 2009 championship.

7. Dodger Thoughts has the lowdown on the Peter O'Malley visit to Brooklyn via a first hand perspective of one of his readers.

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:06:04 -0000

Some things to read while thinking about what could have been.

So, the bullpen situation is increasingly chaotic, with Trevor Hoffman now possibly opening the season on the DL. (Also noted in FanShot) The situation is exacerbated by the fact that David Riske and Carlos Villanueva aren't pitching well and Seth McClung, who isn't pitching exceptionally well either, may be needed to fill a spot in the starting rotation. Riske, for one, is taking his spring results pretty seriously, saying he's in shock after allowing an earned run in five straight outings.

We all respond to stress differently, I suppose: After getting shelled in two innings in his first spring start yesterday, Mark DiFelice was cutting hair in the Brewer clubhouse.

Also in that last link is a note mentioning that Sam Narron was sent down to minor league camp. Elsewhere in roster moves, the Brewers decided to let the Astros keep Rule 5 pick Lou Palmisano. (Also noted in FanShot)

The Brewers also made a minor trade over the weekend, acquiring minor league infielder Sergio Miranda from the White Sox for future considerations. The move was big enough to draw notice from Al and in Rumorville, but it slipped through the cracks over at the JS. There's some speculation that those "future considerations" might end up being Tony Gwynn Jr., but of course that's not confirmed.

Speaking of Gwynn, while he would appear to be behind Chris Duffy, Brad Nelson and Trot Nixon in the race for backup outfield spots, he thinks his history with the organization will get him a spot on the team this spring. Best of luck to him in his future endeavors.

Casey McGehee also continues to make a solid case for making the team. View From Bernie's Chalet is going to be pretty upset if he doesn't make the roster.

Baseball Intellect has posted 6-15 in their rankings of Brewer prospects: Follow the link for scouting reports on Jonathan Lucroy, Lorenzo Cain, Jake Odorizzi, Taylor Green, Cutter Dykstra, Cody Scarpetta, Caleb Gindl, Cole Gillespie and Zach Braddock, and an invitation to follow another link for a scouting report on Efrain Nieves.

Crawfish Boxes finished up their position-by-position look at the NL Central this weekend, ranking Corey Hart fourth among right fielders and Jason Kendall dead last among catchers.

Would their projection have changed if they knew Mike Rivera is going to get more starts in 2009? Ken Macha is planning to pair Rivera with Dave Bush to get Jason Kendall more frequent rest.

Elsewhere among predictions/projections/rankings:

FeinSports.com projects the Brewers for 79 wins and a third place finish.
Baseball Digest Daily doesn't have a prediction in their Brewer 2009 preview, but they do have some cool graphs and charts.
BareKnucks.com thinks the Brewers will win 72 games and finish fourth.
Not Today You Ain't picked the Brewers to finish fourth as well.

Do you like jokes involving Rickie Weeks? If so, you may enjoy his "interview" with Chatterbalks.

In other camps:

Dodgers: Released Shawn Estes.
Giants: Noah Lowry received a cortisone shot and will be unable to throw a baseball until April.
Mets: Released Tom Martin.
Nationals: Signed Josh Bard to a minor league deal.
Padres: Mark Worrell needs Tommy John surgery and will miss the 2009 season. He was acquired from the Cardinals for Khalil Greene.
Rangers: Signed Jimmy Gobble to a minor league deal.
Twins: Joe Mauer still has pain and inflammation in his back and is unlikely to be ready for Opening Day.
White Sox: Signed Gavin Floyd to a four year deal worth $15.5 million.

The Astros spring training has been pretty bad, but for one day the Tigers had it worse: they were no-hit by the Marlins yesterday with Ricky Nolasco and two relievers combining to accomplish the feat.

On Friday I mentioned the new Dodgers policy of putting a contribution to Dodger charities into all contracts. The MLBPA has filed a grievance that will likely end that practice in a hurry.

The Cubs sale is still on hold and will almost certainly not be done by Opening Day. Between the Green Pillars took a look at its implications for the Brewers.

Like one in four Americans, I'm left handed, so as a writer I'm encouraged by the fact that all the Reds beat writers are also lefties.

Think you know your stats? Got seven minutes to prove it? Take this quiz and see how many franchise win leaders you can name. I got 12, which is pretty good in the "taken before 7 am" division.

At the very least, those seven minutes will be a better investment than the $70,000 Torii Hunter invested in furniture rafts.

Baseball Reference is working on a new site design. As someone who uses the site countless times daily, I was concerned, but they've opened up the beta page and it looks pretty good. Here's Jeff Cirillo's page, if you're curious.

Over the weekend, BCB made a roster move of its own. Josh Kalk, aka Dixieflatline, is leaving the site to take a job with an AL team. Josh is a phenomenal talent and will be a tremendous asset to his new employers, but to the internet baseball community he's more than that.

There's a stereotype out there about bloggers and internet-based writers. There are people who label us as glorified loudmouths with too much time on their hands and a "home office" in mom's basement. As a medium, we owe a debt of gratitude to people like Josh, Jeff Sackmann, David Pinto, Tom Tango and a variety of others that have shown that, at times, the best baseball analysis being done today is happening here on the internet, and the work that we're producing here should not be universally ignored by teams and the media.

At any rate, congratulations and thank you to Josh for all he's done and continues to do.

Oh, and Peter Angelos may not be the best savior for horse racing.

Drink up.