SB Nation - Josh Geer

Brewers Pitching Philosophy: A Single Is Not Enough

TheJay — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:00:11 -0000

One week ago, roguejim wrote a post about just how lousy the Brewers starting rotation has been. Here are some more numbers showing just how hard Brewers starters have been hit.

Check out the fifteen highest slugging averages allowed by MLB pitchers with a minimum of 100 innings pitched in 2009. Note: these numbers are through August 17, so Parra's start last night and those of anyone else on the list are not included.

Name	SLG	IP	ERA	HR	W-L
Josh Geer	.561	102.2	5.96	27	1-7
Jeff Suppan	.512	114.1	5.27	18	5-8
Trevor Cahill	.506	139.1	4.97	25	6-12
Jeremy Guthrie	.506	140.0	5.66	28	7-12
Todd Wellemeyer	.498	112.2	5.67	17	7-9
Braden Looper	.496	143.0	5.03	30	10-6
Brian Moehler	.495	113.1	5.40	16	7-9
Jamie Moyer	.491	123.1	5.47	22	10-9
Livan Hernandez	.491	135.0	5.47	16	7-8
Armando Galarraga	.487	129.0	5.16	21	6-10
Brad Penny	.482	127.2	5.22	17	7-7
Jason Hammel	.479	118.0	4.73	11	7-7
Joe Saunders	.477	136.2	5.33	24	9-7
Aaron Harang	.471	155.1	4.35	24	6-14
Manny Parra	.470	107.2	6.44	12	8-8

The Brewers are the only team with more than one pitcher on that list and they very nearly had four. Jeff Suppan has seen his reputation improve with time spent on the DL, but Dave Bush has made out pretty well, too. He only had 81 innings pitched when he was placed on the DL, but his .534 slugging average allowed would have placed him second. If you add nineteen perfect innings to his season line, his resulting .450 still comes in 27th. If you're curious, Yovani Gallardo's .371 is 79th out of 102 qualifying pitchers.

I know including W-L records in anything is heresy these days, but it gives me an excuse to post this snippet originally found in the August 16 Elias Says column:

Braden Looper handed a 5-4 seventh-inning lead to the bullpen, but the Astros rallied against Brewers relievers to post an 8-5 win at Milwaukee. It was the fifth time this season that relievers relinquished a lead in a game in which Looper was in line for a victory. The only starting pitchers in the majors with more blown wins this season than Looper are Randy Wolf (7), Gavin Floyd (6) and Looper's mound opponent on Sunday, Roy Oswalt (6).

Strange to think that Looper could right now be the worst 15+ game winner in recent memory.

2009 NL Wild Card: the Los Angeles Dodgers?

Poseidon's Fist — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:17:29 -0000

More photos » by Keith Birmingham - AP

Will we sing this come October? "The LA Dodgers sat high on a wall. The LA Dodgers had a great fall. Ned Colletti and Torre's tired pen. Couldn't put LA together again"

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We have have heard for months that the NL West race was decided, that the Dodgers would be triumphant. Literally four months.

On June 29, Eric Stephen of TrueBlueLA emphatically stated:

THE NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST HAS ALREADY BEEN DECIDED. THE RACE IS OVER.

Eric's argument was the Dodgers' historical success of converting such leads to division titles. That's all well and good, but quite frankly, Maury Wills and Odalis Perez have far less to do with this race than Rafael Betancourt, Clayton Kershaw or Freddy Sanchez.

Barely a month into the season on May 6, Dave Cameron proclaimed on Fangraphs that the race was over. Obviously, shaping his main argument around injured Diamondbacks was incredibly faulty reasoning, in retrospect.

After the Dodgers dropped 5 of 7 last week at home (their first losing homestand), the Rockies and Giants have each pulled within 5.5 games in second place. There haven't been two teams that close to the Dodgers since May 13. The last time the Giants were 5.5 back was May 14 - for the Rockies, April 29.

LA has lost Clayton Kershaw's last four starts, Randy Wolf has just one win in his last five, Chad Billingsley is hobbled and Jason Schmidt just went to the disabled list. Suffice it to say, the personnel of the Dodgers' rotation remains in flux. The difficulty of Dodgers' starters to go deep into games has forced Joe Torre to overwork his bullpen. It has been mentioned multiple times, but it bears repeating.

The Dodgers' pen has thrown the 2nd-most innings in MLB. Notice who have thrown the 2nd and 3rd least, respectively. Can their bullpen keep up? Broxton and Belisario have both had stints on the DL already, and George Sherrill was initiated into the tired-arm club in his fourth appearance with a 31-pitch outing Friday, a season-high.

The gap is closing. Even SportsCenter and Buster Olney have acknowledged the shrinking lead in the last 24 hours. The only question is if there's enough time. San Francisco has 9 games left against Los Angeles, the Rockies 6. So technically, both teams control their own destiny in the division. With about 50 games to play, either team just has to make up one game out of each ten on Los Angeles the rest of the way. In the past ten games, the Rockies have made up 3 games and the Giants two.

The scary part for Los Angeles is that word either. Just as a comeback is more difficult with multiple teams in front of you, losing a division lead is more likely when more teams are on your tail. It only takes one of the two teams to get hot or sweep a head-to-head series to become a real threat.

Conveniently, the Giants host the Dodgers for three starting tonight, where San Francisco is a sizzling 33-18. A sweep brings them within 2.5. Meanwhile, the Rockies will toy with the remnants of the Pirates roster, including tonight, when we face erstwhile Pirate Tom Gorzelanny vs the Cubs.

Is it time to panic for Joe Torre? Sadly, no. As Eric Stephen so astutely notes, every World Series champion this decade has had 17-game stretches as bad and as frequently, if not more, than Los Angeles has this season. Baseball Prospectus gives LA an 89% chance of taking the division still, or 78% through PECOTA projections, 77% via ELO odds. They still have the best record in the NL, and only the Yankees have a better record overall.

It's not time to panic, but Los Angeles would be wise to clean off their rearview mirrors. The monstrous Giants and giant Rockies in the mirror are most definitely closer than they appear.

NL West Report

Los Angeles (67-45, 1st, L3)

Last Week: 2-5. 1-2 vs Brewers. 1-3 vs Braves.

Pace: 97-65.

Divisional Change: Lost 1.5 game lead on SF and COL.

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

News: Chad Billingsley was forced to leave his last start with a hamstring strain. That was the same headline after his previous start as well.

Chad Billingsley

#58 / Pitcher / Los Angeles Dodgers

Height: 6-1

Weight: 245

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Jul 29, 1984

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Chad Billingsley	11-6	3.73	1.28	143	66

LA won't put their ace on the DL, choosing instead to be cautious with Billingsley. On one hand, a ginger Billingsley is far better than their other options, but losing him longterm would be incredibly debilitating. They've had difficulty enough filling the 5th starter spot. Requiring 40% of their starts to be via stopgap starters would put their divisional champagne on ice.

Jon Heyman reported a blockbuster deal that failed. Adrian Gonzalez and Heath Bell for James Loney, Russell Martin, James McDonald, Blake Dewitt, and Ivan Dejesus. Not surprisingly, it was reported later that the rumor was completely false.

ESPN reports the Dodgers are interested in John Smoltz, who was DFA'd by the Red Sox.

By adding George Sherrill, the Dodgers took on about $1 million in payroll, roughly half what the cheapskate Rockies added in Betancourt and Beimel (~$1.9million).

Eric Stephen's Week in Review is called "Don't Stop the Bleedin'" (?). Let's hope his tribute to journey rings true while we adopt the song's true namesake as our rally cry.

Transactions: Optioned Scott Elbert and Cory Wade to AAA. Recalled Eric Stults. Acquired 25yo RHP Harvey Garcia from PIT for a PTBNL.

Injuries: Activated Ronald Belisario from 15-day DL and placed Jason Schmidt on the 15-day DL. Transferred Will Ohman from 15-day DL to 60-day DL.

Los Angeles Dodgers Injuries

Doubtful

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Chad Billingsley	hamstring	08/08/2009

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Will Ohman	shoulder	05/28/2009
Jason Schmidt	shoulder	08/06/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Eric Milton	lower-back	06/28/2009
Doug Mientkiewicz	shoulder	04/17/2009
Xavier Paul	ankle	05/21/2009

News on the other three divisional teams after the jump.

Arizona (50-62, 4th, L3, 17 GB)

Last Week: 4-3. 1-0 @ Mets, 3-0 @ Pirates, 0-3 @ Nationals.

Pace: 72-90.

Divisional Change: Gained 2 games.

This Week: 3 game home series vs Mets. 3 game home series vs Dodgers.

News: Brandon Webb underwent surgery last week, effectively ending his bid to return to the Diamondbacks this season. There is no timetable for his recovery, though the surgery on his labrum went well. This also means, as I've noted before, that Webb's last start in Diamondbacks duds would be Opening Day this year, unless Arizona picks up the expensive option on damaged goods.

Arizona signed the talented but wild Daniel Cabrera.

Daniel Cabrera

#45 / Pitcher / Arizona Diamondbacks

Height: 6-9

Weight: 270

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: May 28, 1981

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Daniel Cabrera	0-5	9	8	0	0	0	0	40.0	48	39	26	4	35	16	5.85	2.08

AZ Snakepit reacts to the signing.

I found this article interesting, in the vein of the Jason Jennings/iPod piece. Max Scherzer uses advanced stats to evaluate his performance. The article description calls the stats obscure, but Rowbots are well-versed in the "obscure." After a couple rough starts, the Scherz comforted himself by noting BABIP abnormalities, while his season goal is to be a 4.0+ WAR pitcher.

Yusmeiro Petit was the definition of a 5th starter last week: inconsistent. The Petit Unit extended his scoreless innings streak to 14 by taking a no-hitter into the eighth on Tuesday, then lasted just 4 innings in giving up 4 runs and 9 hits to Washington yesterday.

Conor Jackson is eyeing the start of a rehab stint. He has been out three months with to Valley Fever, but may be able to start a rehab assignment as soon as next week, putting him in line to be activated in September.

Josh Byrnes predicts a busy waiver-trading season, which could include D-Backs Jon Garland and Doug Davis.

Transactions: Called up OF Trent Oeltjen. Optioned C Luke Carlin to AAA.

Injuries: Placed Justin Upton on 15-day DL. Activated Chris Snyder from 15-day DL.

Arizona Diamondbacks Injuries

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Eric Byrnes	hand	06/26/2009
Justin Upton	oblique	08/06/2009

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

San Diego (47-66, 5th, L1, 20.5 GB)

Last Week: 4-3. 1-2 vs Braves, 3-1 vs Mets.

Pace: 67-95.

Divisonal change: Gained 2.0 games.

This Week: 3 game road series @ Brewers, 3 game road series vs. Cardinals.

News: Buster Olney says that Adrian Gonzalez was more likely to be a Mariner if he was traded than play for any other team. Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times discusses the failed trade at length.

Rox fans can relate to this: Padres' first-rounder Drew Tate has yet to sign. Tate is registered for classes at North Carolina and will reportedly play baseball and football at Chapel Hill if he doesn't sign. Football practices start this week for UNC.

David Eckstein didn't want to be traded to a contender. Not only is he a gritty gamer, but he's unselfish as well. He actually wants to help stick around San Diego and help influence Padres rebuilding plan.

The Friars hope to rebuild via arms a la Braves of the 90's. Aaron Poreda, Clayton Richard, Mat Latos and Adys Portillo surely won't become Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and Steve Avery, but it's still the right plan.

Padres release Prior after not seeing enough progress with rehab.

Mark Prior

#22 / Pitcher / San Diego Padres

Height: 6-5

Weight: 230

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Sep 07, 1980

The headline to this article will insult your intelligence.

Chad Gaudin was traded to the Yankees.

Everth Cabrera hit a walkoff grand slam off K-Rod Saturday, his second career HR.

Transactions: Optioned RHP Josh Geer to AAA. Geer was leading the Milky Way in HR allowed. Recalled RHP Ryan Webb from AAA. DFA'd catcher Jose Lobaton. Optioned outfielder Drew Macias tto AAA.

Injuries: Activated catcher Henry Blanco from the 15-day disabled list. Activated second baseman David Eckstein from the 15-day disabled list. Transferred Brian Giles and Chris Young to the 60-day DL.

San Diego Padres Injuries

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Nick Hundley	forearm	06/18/2009
Brian Giles	knee	06/19/2009
Edgar Gonzalez	concussion	07/19/2009

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
Chris Young	shoulder	06/15/2009
Cliff Floyd	shoulder	06/18/2009

San Francisco (61-50, t-2nd, L1, 5.5 GB)

Last Week: 3-3. 2-1 @ Astros, 1-2 vs Reds.

Pace: 89-73.

Divisional Change: Gained 1.5 games.

This Week: 3 game home series vs Dodgers, first 3 games of 4 game series @ Mets. On one hand, the Giants draw a struggling team in which no extra motivation is necessary at home and a struggling, bad team, on the road. On the other, they are facing the NL's best team by record and a team that ate the Rockies alive at home.

News: San Francisco added $2.1million in payroll to acquire Freddy Sanchez, $200,000 more than it took the Rockies to bring in Beimel and Betancourt.

Peterson: Giants' rivals also busy making trades - San Jose Mercury News

Tim Lincecum was co-NL Player of the Week for the last week of July. He shared it with Josh Willingham, who had two grand slams in a game. Willingham was heavily rumored to be a trade target for Brian Sabean, but the Giants didn't pull the trigger.

Matt Cain is struggling. To wit:

Month	Starts	W-L	ER	ERA	HR
July	6	3-0	4	0.94	1
August	2	0-2	9	5.40	4

After allowing only four runs in six July starts, Cain has lost both his starts in August, allowing nine runs to the Reds and Astros. He had allowed 2 HR in a game just once this year, but did so in both of his last two starts, meaning he has allowed as many HR in August in two starts as he did runs in six July starts.
Matt Cain stats, news, and photos on ESPN.com.

Matt Cain

#18 / Pitcher / San Francisco Giants

Height: 6-3

Weight: 245

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Oct 01, 1984

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Matt Cain	12-4	23	23	4	0	0	0	155.0	125	44	42	16	56	124	2.44	1.17

Grant at McCovey Chronicles muses on the general surliness of Giants fans. He blames the lack of success on the field in recent years and reason to temper enthusiasm by the bay despite a competitive team.

Beyond the Box Score still doesn't buy the Giants' legitimacy.

Transactions: Optioned outfielder John Bowker to AAA.

Injuries: Activated infielder Rich Aurilia (toe) from the 15-day disabled list. Transferred pitcher Randy Johnson to the 60-day disabled list. Placed Henry Sosa on the 60-day DL. Activated Joe Martinez from the 60 day DL.

San Francisco Giants Injuries

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Nate Schierholtz	hip	07/27/2009
Andres Torres	hamstring	07/31/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Randy Johnson	trapezius	07/06/2009
Noah Lowry	ribs	03/27/2009
Kelvin Pichardo	shoulder	06/28/2009
Henry Sosa	shoulder	08/05/2009

Poll

What do you think about the NL West race?

Irrational optimism is cute. This race has been over for months

29 votes

Guardedly optimistic. It's definitely doable, but I doubt it will happen

166 votes

I'll drink that Kool-Aid. Either the Giants or Rockies will catch them

141 votes

Oblivious. Nudge me if the deficit is cut to 2 games.

25 votes

361 votes | Poll has closed

The ancient, mystical society of No-Homers will not stand for all these homers! Reds win, 6-4.

Brendanukkah — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 02:37:01 -0000

More photos » by David Kohl - AP

They're not solo home runs if you hit 'em in pairs! (AP Photo/David Kohl)

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Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Jonny Gomes. I'm so in the tank for this guy, you'd think I was obc. Gomes went 2-3 with a walk, hitting two solo homers that proved to be the margin of victory. Props to Joey Votto for getting the team fired up.

Key Plays

The game started out beautifully as Willy Taveras reached on a fielding error and Alex Gonzalez singled. Then Votto, unaccustomed to seeing runners on base, tried to check his swing on a third strike. The ump said he went around, Votto said that was fucking horseshit, and Dusty just kinda sat there. Votto got tossed, but he left the spirit of vengeance in the clubhouse. Brandon Phillips immediately went all Ghost Rider and hit a three run homer.
Willy Taveras threw out Kyle Blanks at the plate in the second. Wha?!
Jonny Gomes homered to lead off the Reds half of the second. Homer Bailey was staked to a four run lead against the light-hitting Padres. Cautious optimism crept into the fans.
Willy Taveras threw out Adrian Gonzalez at third base in the fourth. Clearly the time traveling toaster has altered the past and returned us to a world not our own. This is indeed a disturbing universe.
Edwin led off the Reds half of the fourth with a home run into the upper deck.
In the fifth inning, the Padres finally got on the board. Kyle Blanks doubled, then came home on a single by Luis Rodriguez.
Back to back homers by Everth Cabrera and Adrian Gonzalez made it a 5-3 game. Red Reporters shifted nervously in their seats.
GOMES! In the bottom of the sixth, Gomes hit his second homer of the night and tenth of the year to put the Reds back up by three.
And so it would stay until Coco Cordero allowed a home run to Kevin Kouzmanoff before retiring the side. Reds win!

FanGraphs

Other Notes

This was Cordero's first save since July 19, and only his second since July 8.
Votto had been thrown out once before for arguing a called third strike, on July 12 against the Mets. Different umpiring crew, for those of you who are persecution minded.
Our outfield featured a player who finished second in Rookie of the Year voting (Taveras), a player who finished third in Rookie of the Year voting (Gomes), and a guy who spells his name with a Y. On the injured list are Jay Bruce (5th, RoY) and Chris Dickerson and Ryan Hanigan, who should have gotten consideration this year. Joey Votto of course finished second in RoY voting last year. Mostly I'm including this because I was unaware Gomes had finished so high, but it's worth remembering that we do have some good young talent on this team.
Homer Bailey tied a career high with 7.1 innings. He has a non-losing record for the first time since the end of his debut season.

Final - 7.27.2009	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
San Diego Padres	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	1	4	7	1
Cincinnati Reds	3	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	X	6	5	0
WP: Homer Bailey (2 - 2) SV: Francisco Cordero (23) LP: Josh Geer (1 - 7)

Complete Coverage >

The Buzzsaw That Is Clayton Kershaw

Brendan Scolari — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:40:04 -0000

More photos » by David J. Phillip - AP

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In case you haven't been watching the Dodgers for the past year and a half, Clayton Kershaw has ridiculous stuff. His fastball is one of the hardest in the major leagues and his curveball moves about as much as any you'll ever see. His stuff is so good that even when one of his pitches isn't working he is still nearly unhittable. How good is his stuff though? One way to measure it is using a stat called wFB/C.

The wFB stat weighs how many runs a pitcher allows compared to an average pitcher when they throw a fastball. There are similiar stats for each pitch, wCB for weighted curveballs, wCH for weighted change-ups, and so on. But wFB/C weighs the amount of runs a pitcher allows per 100 fastballs compared to the average pitcher, so it's a rate stat instead of a cumulative stat. So if a pitchers fastball is 0 wFB/C, that means it's perfectly average. If it is a 1, that means the pitcher allows 1 less run per 100 fastballs then an average pitcher would. If it is a -1, that means a pitcher allows 1 more run per 100 fastballs then the average pitcher would. Here's a chart ranking qualifying pitchers based on their wFB/C:

Pitcher	wFB/C
Chris Carpenter	2.55
Dan Haren	2.52
Tim Wakefield	1.57
Jarrod Washburn	1.53
Clayton Kershaw	1.50

Using this chart we can see that Kershaw's fastball is fifth best in the major leagues in terms of its effectiveness. For every 100 fastballs Kershaw throws he allows 1.5 runs less than the average pitcher does, which is really good. Keep in mind that this only measures the effectiveness of fastballs, not how hard they are thrown. That helps explain the first two players, Chris Carpenter and Dan Haren, who both throw had but also have great command of their fastballs, which is what makes them so effective. They also have great secondary pitches which help set up their fastballs (Carpenter has a great curveball while Haren relies on his split-finger).

Tim Wakefield may be a surprise, but when you remember that he only throws his fastball 9% of the time it's not surprising that he would be effective with it. Jarrod Washburn doesn't have a blazing fastball either but he has great control, good offspeed pitches, and a great outfield defense that has helped him thrive in spite of his flyball tendencies.

But right after them comes Clayton Kershaw. To me it is really remarkable that his fastball would be this effective with the control he has. So often during his starts he has trouble getting his curveball over and has to rely almost solely on his fastball, yet it is still so good that hitters cannot square it up. For comparison here are the five least effective fastballs:

Pitcher	wFB/C
Armando Gallaraga	-2.29
Ricky Nolasco	-2.14
Francisco Liriano	-1.91
Josh Geer	-1.77
Bronson Arroyo	-1.57

All five of these players have ERA's above 5.00. They have all had huge control problems for at least a part of 2009 and none of them throw particularly hard (Liriano hasn't thrown hard since his arm injury in 2007). Part of this is bad luck, obviously Ricky Nolasco does not have the second worst fastball in the major leagues, but their poor usage of their fastball explains much of these pitchers struggles in 2009.

What about curveballs? Where does Clayton's curveball rank above the game's elite? Unsurprisingly it's pretty high, 13th in the National League in fact:

Pitcher	wCB/C
Javier Vasquez	3.68
Adam Wainwright	3.55
Livan Hernandez	3.40
Aaron Harang	3.20
Kevin Correia	2.85
Barry Zito	2.50
Joel Piniero	2.08
Todd Wellemeyer	2.00
Chris Carpenter	1.96
Mike Pelfrey	1.93
Randy Wolf	1.87
Wandy Rodriguez	1.82
Clayton Kershaw	1.79

Most of the names on this list aren't too surprising. Guys like Javier Vasquez, Aaron Harang, Barry Zito, and Chris Carpenter are knon for their devastating curveballs. The American League list is similiar with guys like Roy Halladay, Josh Beckett, and A.J. Burnett among the leaders. Pitchers like Randy Wolf and Wandy Rodriguez also have nice hammers that they use as their out pitch. It's a bit surprising that Kevin Correia is ranked so high but he has been surprisingly not terrible this season. There's got to be something in the water in St. Louis as four of their starters are on this list.

And then we have Kershaw, who is again among the leaders. What keeps him from being higher on this list is not the movement on his curveball, but his control of the pitch. You can bet that as soon as he learns how to control his curve it's going to be as good as anybody's. His changeup is still not a very good pitch so his curveball is still what he relies on to offset hitters timing. His changeup is -1.91 runs per 100 pitches, pretty bad actually. He ranks 69th or 90 qualifying pitchers in that category. So unless he can drastically improve there his fastball and curveball will remain the only pitches he can throw very often.

What all this means is hard to say. His fastball is already as good as nearly anyone's in the world all things considered. His curveball is extremely effective as well, although there is still room for improvement. His changeup still has a long ways to go but even without it he still has an ERA under 3.00. What I do know is that if he ever learns how to harness his command of his offspeed pitches he is going to be something to behold, and it's certainly going to be fun watching him try.

Can it get worse for San Diego? It had better this weekend

Poseidon's Fist — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:10:47 -0000

More photos » by Tony Avelar - AP

Everth Cabrera is a magician with the bat. Well, sort of. The former Rockie farmhand brings San Diego's second highest batting average into tonight's contest, the first time he'll face the team that signed him. Oh, and in case you were still hoping to get him back, stop. He's gone.

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If the Rockies want to make up ground in the NL West, they had better start beating the teams in the division. The only team Colorado has a winning record against is the team they face tonight (5-3), the cellar-dwelling San Diego Padres. Let's rid this tendency of playing down to the competition, shall we?

It would definitely be playing down to the competition to lose a series to the Padres too. They won last Sunday, but all that did was avoid entering the break with an eight game losing streak. They've won just one series since May 27. They traded away their third biggest power threat. Their run differential has fallen lower than the Nationals for worst in the majors. That's a cold team. And a bad one.

Even when they weren't playing games, the Padres weren't doing well. Adrian Gonzalez and Heath Bell missed their plane to the All-Star Game and had to drive from Indianapolis. A-Gone then hit two measly home runs in the Home Run Derby, beating only the miniscule Brandon Inge. In the actual game, Bell became the third Padre to be saddled with the ASG loss in four years while A-Gone failed to get an at-bat.

So what do the Padres have going for them? About the only thing at this point is Petco Park. They are 23-20 in San Diego - compare that to the Rockies 23-19 Coors record. Colorado dropped one of two at the metal factory May 4-5 this season. They can protect their home field very well for a weak team, and Petco doesn't treat the Rox well traditionally.

Gaslamp Ball is the Padres blog.

San Diego Padres (36-52, W1, 5th, 20 GB)

Thursday-Sunday: 4-game series at Petco Park

The Bats: D

I doubt it's surprising to you that San Diego is dead last in batting average. In fact, their .233 average is a whole 13 points below their nearest company - Oakland. They're last in wOBA with .302 (almost Yorvit territory), last in runs 334, last in slugging, last in OPS. Their second highest batting average (by a familiar name) is just .255. It's like reading lines for the Rockies pitching staff in the 90's. Both have been mistreated by a ridiculously biased ballpark.

That's why I included OPS+ for this one. Their team OPS+ is 89, which is still bad, but it's better than San Francisco (84), Cincinnati (84), Oakland (86), Chicago Cubs (86), and Kansas City (88). So as weak as this lineup looks, I can't give it an F, even though some key contributors (Gerut, Eckstein, Hairston, Blanco) are hurt or have been traded.

LINEUP	Avg	HR	RBI	OBP	SLG	wOBA	OPS+
Everth Cabrera - SS	.255	0	10	.340	.340	.321	91
Tony Gwynn Jr. - CF	.297	1	8	.374	.394	.340	115
Adrian Gonzalez - 1B	.250	24	52	.387	.523	.383	151
Kevin Kouzmanoff - 3B	.244	12	47	.280	.405	.299	89
Chase Headley - LF	.232	8	32	.308	.366	.304	87
Will Venable - RF	.233	1	5	.313	.367	.308	89
Eliezer Alfonzo - C	.237	2	7	.274	.356	.278	74
Luis Rodriguez - 2B	.205	1	9	.329	.262	.272	68

By wOBA metrics, the lineup features one All-Star (Gonzalez), one slightly above average hitter (Gwynn), three below average (Cabrera, Headley, Venable) and three well below average ones (Kouzmanoff, Alfonzo, Rodriguez). However, via OPS+, Gonzo's a star, Gwynn is solid, and other than Alfonzo and Rodriquez, they are just a bit below average. Interesting stat of the day: Scott Hairston had a .390 wOBA with San Diego, better than even A-Gone.

Bud Black is only carrying three guys on his bench - rookie Jose Lobaton (0-for-6), enormous rookie outfielder Kyle Blanks (7-for-50) and Edgar Gonzalez (.180/.241/.361). That's about the most sorry looking bench you'll find.

Hop after the jump for the scouting report on the arms, the D, the pitching matchups and the hot/cold players.

The Arms: D

it's tough to pitch poorly when you get to play at Petco Park, but believe it or not, the Padres have done it. Their ERA+ is 80, much worse than their offense. Their staff ERA is 5th worst at 5.71 in spite of the home park. Their ERA/FIP/tRA splits for starters are 5.23/4.59/5.06 and for relievers 3.86/4.11/4.29. Those aren't very pretty.

Still, the we could have challenges with their four starters. Gaudin and Correia are above average pitchers by tRA. Geer gave up just one run at Petco against the Rox in eight innings earlier this year. ESPN lists Mat Latos as Sunday's starter. He'd be making his MLB Debut after starting the year at Low-A Fort Wayne. He has torched the minor leagues, is listed by Baseball America as the Padres' #2 prospect behind Kyle Blanks and has the best fastball in their organization. MLB.com has Tim Stauffer as the starter, who pitched very well in his 2009 debut last week, but indicates Latos is likely to be called up in coming days.

Bud Black's bulging bullpen includes All-Star closer Heath Bell, obviously. Also currently listed in the pen are righties Mike Adams, Josh Banks, Greg Burke, Mike Ekstrom, Luke Gregerson, Cla Meredith, Edward Mujica, Luis Perdomo, and Ryan Webb (from the Hairston trade). When Latos is called up for Sunday, one of those nine righties will get the boot. My guess would be Banks. Note: There are no LHP on the Padres' active roster.

The D: D+

With a -3.5 UZR/150, the Padres don't seem to have great defensive range. Their 48 errors are respectable, but FG gives them a -13.4 rating, decidedly below average.

The Ballpark: VERY HEAVY pitcher's park

You probably knew that. However, it's park factor is 89, which is more influential on the pitching side than Coors Field has been for hitters since 2005. That's substantial, considering Coors hurt Matt Holliday's MVP dreams in 2007. Petco makes their pitchers look far more acceptable and their hitters far more putrid. The park factor at Petco will affect stats more than any other park.

Probable Pitchers:

Tonight, 8:05 pm MDT

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Aaron Cook	8-3	3.98	1.39	55	34

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Chad Gaudin	4-7	5.03	1.41	85	44

Friday, July 17, 8:05 pm MDT

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Ubaldo Jimenez	6-9	3.81	1.32	101	46

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Josh Geer	1-4	5.79	1.31	47	17

Saturday, July 18, 8:05 MDT

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Jason Hammel	5-4	4.43	1.46	61	21

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Kevin Correia	6-7	4.50	1.30	82	34

Sunday, July 19, 2:05 MDT

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Jason Marquis	11-6	3.65	1.31	58	40

Lo-A and AA Stats MLB Debut	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Mat Latos	8-1	1.37	0.75	73	12

Will Venable is 9-for-28 with a HR in July. Kevin Kouzmanoff has a couple HR in July, while Heath Bell, Mike Adams and Mike Ekstrom all have ERAs under 2.00 this month.

Josh Geer was lit up for 6 runs and 3 HR in his last start and hasn't won since May 24. Adrian Gonzalez has been ice cold in July, going just 6-for-46 with just one XBH - a double. Everth Cabrera is just 9-for-45 (10 TB) in July while Chase Headley and Luis Rodriguez join the sub-.600 July OPS club. Kyle Blanks singled Sunday, his first hit in 18 ABs.

Six pivotal contributors are on the 15-day DL. Jake Peavy (ankle), Chris Young (shoulder), Nick Hundley (forearm), Brian Giles (knee), David Eckstein (hamstring) and Henry Blanco (hamstring) are all hobbled. RHP's Cha Seung Baek (forearm), Shawn Hill (elbow) and Mark Worrell (elbow) are on the 60-day DL along with Cliff Floyd (shoulder)

Poll

Can we sweep a four game series at Petco?

Yes. They're terrible. Even their All-Stars have been embarrassing

68 votes

No, but three out of four ain't bad.

61 votes

No. Split in San Diego. Darn it

7 votes

No. This is embarrassing. Who loses a series to the Padres?!

4 votes

No. We get swept and spanked by the San Diego Dads

1 votes

141 votes | Poll has closed

Manny Ramirez smashes first home run since return

Matt Buggenhagen — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:10:16 -0000

More photos » by Jeff Chiu - AP

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Associated Press-

SAN DIEGO -- Manny Ramirez hit his first home run since his return from a 50-game suspension for violating baseball's drug policy.

It was Ramirez's seventh of the season and 534th of his career, tying Jimmie Foxx for 16th on the all-time list. Up next is Mickey Mantle with 536.

The slugger gave the Los Angeles Dodgers a 1-0 lead Saturday when he drove a 1-2 changeup from San Diego's Josh Geer an estimated 369 feet into the seats in left field at Petco Park with two outs in the first inning.

Ramirez returned Friday night after sitting out 50 games. He went 0-for-3 with a walk before leaving the game after the sixth inning.

"Manny-wood" hits his first post steroid home run of the year. Something tells me we may see this like 25 more times before the season ends.

Dodgers Look To Get Offense In Geer

Eric Stephen — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:55:47 -0000

I haven't seen a gun this fast since Jim in Rock Ridge.

View full size photo »

A night after Petco Park was filled with at least 70% Dodger fans -- the first time I can remember seeing more Dodger fans than Padre fans at a game in San Diego -- the Dodgers look to take game two on big Fox today. Dick Stockton and Eric Karros will be on the call.

The Dodgers face a pitcher in Josh Geer that is winless with a 6.19 ERA in his last six starts. However, for you quality start fans, Geer's last three starts have been of the "quality" variety.

At this time last year, Randy Wolf was a Padre. He was not traded to Houston until July 22. Wolf is coming off a rough June -- 0-2 with a 5.23 ERA in six starts -- and leads the majors in no-decisions with 11.

Manny Ramirez, who is "going to go day by day," is expected to start today, in a day game after a night game.

Today marks the halfway point in the season, Game #81

The Dodgers are 86-80-2 all-time on July 4.

Get your guesses in for our new July contest, "Clogging The Bases" here.

Baseball Reference Preview

After the jump, there are some pictures from last night's True Blue LA outing, with a brief recap...

I lived in San Diego for 14 years or so, and over the years I have seen more than my fair share of Dodgers-Padres games. I can never remember seeing as many as half the stadium filled with Dodger fans, but last night there had to be at least 70% Dodger fans. It was kind of cool.
I'll have to check my notes when I get home, but the Dodgers' record in San Diego with me in attendance is something like 10-21, so I cherish every win I see in person down there
At two seperate times during highlight packages on the LF video screen, a clip of Kevin Kouzmanoff getting hit by a pitch was used as a "highlight."
The view from our seats wasn't great -- deep in RF semi-blocked by the foul pole, but a fun time was still had by all
The Petco radar gun was obviously pumped up, because one of Jonathan Broxton's pitches registered at 103 MPH
Russell Martin must be energized by the ugly red caps. The last time Martin drove in somebody other than himself was when he had two RBI in Colorado on Memorial Day, before his two RBI last night.
I've found that heckling Padres fans who wanted to remind us that Manny Ramirez was a cheater didn't have much to say after the name "Ken Caminiti" was uttered.
The last out of the game was made by a batter who has been suspended by MLB for 50 games, but Padre fans weren't happy because it was their catcher, Eliezer Alfonzo, and not Manny Ramirez
We ran into DodgerTalk's own Ken Levine in the Gaslamp Quarter, and he was cool as always. Then on our way back the car, we cross paths with Joe Torre. Good times.
Thanks to True Blue LA members BHSportsGuy, caesarbook, Jacob Burch, yodasbrthr, JJ24, and Alex Serena, and their family and friends for making it such a fun section to sit in

On to the pictures...

A few of us stopped at Hodad's in Ocean Beach for burgers before the game:

Then we sat in the all-you-can-eat section. Not smart:

Lots of Dodger fans in our section:

The Dodger dugout in the 1st inning:

Rafael Furcal had a good night, with four hits, a run, and a steal:

This is the point when I first noticed the awful red hats, on Ken Howell and James McDonald:

Another shot of the dugout:

Manny in LF:

Another shot from our seats. Where is home plate again?

Manny in the on-deck circle:

again:

and again:

There aren't many things cooler than seeing this on the road:

Here's the scoreboard after the game. Nary a Dodger highlight on the screen:

Manny Ramirez a.k.a. "Mannywood" returns to the Dodgers

Matt Buggenhagen — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:43:07 -0000

More photos » by Chris Pizzello - AP

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He's back!

Yes of course I'm speaking of Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez, who returned to the Dodgers Friday night. Ramirez, who just completed his 50-game suspension for testing positive for PED, was 0-3 on the night with one walk.

"It was great," Ramirez said. "I was kind of nervous at first, but once I stepped to the plate I was fine."

Ramirez unlike many of his counterparts received a relatively warm welcome, considering the circumstances. The stadium was filled with so many Dodger fans that were cheering very loud, attempting to overwhelm the Padres fans that were booing. After the game Ramirez seemed appreciative of the fans.

The fan reaction "was great, man. It was the best. I want to thank all my fans; I think they drove from L.A. just to watch the game and to watch me. It was unbelievable."

Those who came for the show though were somewhat letdown, Ramirez didn't even get the ball out of the infield. His deepest ball was a pop out to Padres second baseman David Eckstein, which was caught in shallow center field.

Although Ramirez didn't do much at the plate the result remained the same for the Dodgers. They defeated the Padres 6-3 and continued their winning ways.

The Dodgers, who didn't skip a beat in Ramirez absence, maintained their lead on the NL West at 7 ½ games.

Ramirez is expected to be in the lineup Saturday when the Dodgers face the Padres. Josh Geer is expected to be on the mound for the Padres.

This is going to be a huge lift for the Dodgers going into the second half of the season. It's almost the equivalent of making a big deadline deal. Ramirez has now had the luxury of resting for about a month and half, which should make him real dangerous down the stretch. The Dodgers were already considered by many to be the best team in the NL, and Manny's presence makes it that much tougher to refute.

Don't discount the presence of Juan Pierre either. Manny's absense allowed the Dodgers to discover that they had a real weapon in Pierre. I expect Joe Torre to get creative in finding ways to get Pierre in the lineup in the future. Some rumors have been kicked around about the Dodgers entertaining offers for Pierre, but as of now that seems like hearsay. I expect Pierre to stay with the Dodgers, and command significant playing time. Remember, following his 12 years as manager of the Yankees Torre has plenty of experience in balancing a deep roster.

Poll

With Manny Ramirez's return to the lineup, are the Dodgers without question the best team in the NL?

Yes

31 votes

No

19 votes

They already were, even without Manny

39 votes

89 votes | Poll has closed

Big FIrst Inning Allows Dodgers to Walk to Victory

Brendan Scolari — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 07:15:36 -0000

More photos » by Lenny Ignelzi - AP

5 months ago: Los Angeles Dodgers' Manny Ramirez returns to the dugout between innings in a baseball game against the San Diego Padres Friday, July 3, 2009, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

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The Dodgers beat the Padres 6-3 in Manny Ramirez's first game since May 6th against the Nationals. Manny's 50 game suspension seemed like forever but watching him step into the batter's box against Chad Gaudin in the first inning was quite a thrill, bringing the fans at Petco Park to their feet. The cheers overrode the boos and it seemed more like a home game than an away game.

Manny's first game back was quiet, he went 0-3 with a walk. In his first at bat Manny worked the count well and fouled off a few pitches until he finally drew a walk. But in all of his other at bats he only made weak contact. The game was similiarly quiet except for a stellar offensive perormance by the Dodgers in the top half of the first inning. Here's how the first inning went:

Play by Play	Outs	Score
Rafael Furcal singled to center	0	0-0
Orlando Hudson grounded out to third, Furcal to second	1	0-0
Manny Ramirez walked	1	0-0
Andre Ethier grounded into fielders choice, Furcal to third, Ramirez out at second, Furcal scored, Ethier to second on shortstop Everth Cabrera's throwing error	2	1-0
Casey Blake walked	2	1-0
James Loney singled to left center, Ethier scored, Blake to second	2	2-0
Russell Martin singled to left center, Blake scored, Loney to second	2	3-0
Matt Kemp doubled to deep right center, Loney and Martin scored	2	5-0
Hiroki Kuroda struck out swinging	3	5-0

Chad Gaudin threw a total of 46 pitches in the first inning, allowing 5 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks. And that was enough for the Dodgers to win. Andre Ethier doubled in the 3rd inning and eventually scored on a Russell Martin groundout to put the Dodgers up 6-0. Scott Hairston hit a solo home run in the 4th inning to put the Padres on the board. In the 6th inning, Adrian Gonzalez added a two-run double to knock Hiroki Kuroda out of the game and bring the score to but 6-3 but the Padres couldn't find any more offense. The Dodger bullpen pitched spectacularly, with Guillermo Mota, Ramon Troncoso, Brent Leach, and Jonathan Broxton pitching 3.2 scoreless innings, allowing only one baserunner in the process. Broxton pitched the 9th and had 2 strikeouts on only 10 pitches to record his 20th save of the season. Here is the win probability chart for the game:

via www.fangraphs.com

The game was in hand before many fans even got to their seats. The Pades never had so much as a 20% chance of winning once Matt Kemp hit the two-run double that put the Dodgers up 5-0 in the first inning.

The player of the game had to be Rafael Furcal, who went 4-5 with a double and a run. Also of note were Russell Martin, who went 2-4 with a run and 2 RBI's, and Matt Kemp, who went 1-3 with the aforementioned RBI double and a walk. On the other side of the coin was the slumping Orlando Hudson, who went 0-5 with 3 strikeouts. Hudson is only 1 for his last 26, with no walks or extra base hits and 8 strikeouts in that timespan. His 2009 OPS of .775 is now below his career OPS of .778.

Tommorow Randy Wolf will take the mound against Josh Geer at 1:10 PM. Look for Eric's pictures from the True Blue outing at Petco Park sometime in the morning. Here's the roll call for tonight's game thread:

Name	# of Posts
Tripon	66
Brendan Scolari	36
sumo390	19
Bluetrek	17
shoothoop	17
sparksjessed	13
Phil Gurnee	10
Ollie	6
Sordid	3
spike238e	2
Seanny Rotten	2
Xeifrank	1
pdotmac1	1

WP - Hiroki Kuroda (3-4): 5.1 IP, 4 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts

LP - Chad Gaudin (4-7): 5 IP, 7 hits, 6 runs, 4 walks, 4 strikeouts

SV - Jonathan Broxton (20): 1 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 2 strikeouts

Box Score

Dodgers vs. Padres Series Preview

Brendan Scolari — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:36:43 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

Just because the Dodgers are ahead of the Padres by 15.5 games doesn't mean they'll be going easy on them.

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Well, July 3rd is finally here. That means Manny Ramirez's 50 game suspension is over and we can finally watch The Dreadlocked One smash the ball all over the park again. The Dodger offense wasn't quite the same without Manny, losing over a run per game of scoring (5.55 runs per game with Manny, 4.40 runs per game without him).

But what about the Padres? The Padres come into the series struglling a bit, having lost 3 of their last four and 6 of their last 9 games. In the month of June the Padres only managed to go 9-16 The Dodgers have won 6 of their nine games against them this season. Their only series at Petco was the first four games of the season and the Dodgers split the series. But one important difference this time around is that the Dodgers don't have to face either of the Padres best two pitchers, Jake Peavy and Chris Young. The Padres best player, Adrian Gonzalez, has also slowed down from his torrid pace at the start of the season. Gonzalez has 24 home runs on the season but only 2 in the past month.

The first game of the series is tonight with Hiroki Kuroda facing off against Chad Gaudin. Kuroda is coming off a loss in his last start against the Mariners, although iin his start before that he was one out away from a complete game shutout against the White Sox. He is 1-4 since his return from the DL and his only other win on the season was against the Padres on Opening Day. Gaudin is coming off three straight superb starts. Over his last three starts he's gone 21 innings while allowing only 5 runs and 11 hits with 5 walks and 28 strikeouts. The Dodgers will hopefully end this streak.

On Saturday, Randy Wolf will go for another no-decision against Josh Geer. Seriously, Wolf has only three wins so far this year despite his superb pitching. Although he might be able to get one against Geer, who isn't very good. Geer has earned his 5.68 ERA this year (5.70 FIP). He is a control artist who forces the opposing team to put the ball in play. Unfortunately, he hasn't been very successful doing that this year, allowing over 2 home runs per 9 innings. That number should regress but ultimately he's just not a very skilled pitcher, his fastball averages less than 86 MPH.

The series finale will pit Dodger ace Chad Billingsley against 26 year-old right hander Josh Banks. Banks was called up a couple weeks ago putting up a 2.47 ERA in 14 appearances, including eight starts, for Triple-A Portland. Banks is not a great player but he is quite interesting to watch. Banks has a 8 pitch reportoire! He throws a four-seam fastball, a sinker (two-seam fastball), slider, 2 different changeups, splitter, cutter, and even a knuckleball. Here's his ridiculous movement chart:

via www.hardballtimes.com

The catcher doesn't even have enough fingers to call all of Bank's pitches, so he has to improvise. Banks said about his reportoire, "If they got a hit on a certain pitch, I try to throw something that looks like that, but at a different speed. Or I'll try to think of a pitch that I haven't thrown 'em. ... The days that I'm throwing well and able to throw 'em all for strikes, you don't really think about, 'This pitch might be the best pitch,' because if you're throwing 'em all over for strikes, it's kind of hard to guess what pitches are coming." So this should be a really interesting game to watch, with the righty going against our even younger ace.

This is a very winnable series for the Dodgers. They are going against some fairly marginal starting pitchers with the Dodgers' three best arms on the hill. With Manny back to help out the offense I fully expect that the Dodgers will win two or even all three games this series.

Pitching Probables:

Friday: Hiroki Kuroda (2-4, 3.77 ERA) vs. Chad Gaudin (4-6, 4.97 ERA)

Saturday: Randy Wolf (3-3, 3.61 ERA) vs. Josh Geer (1-3, 5.68 ERA)

Sunday: Chad Billingsley (9-4, 3.12 ERA) vs. Josh Banks (1-0, 3.38 ERA)

Padres blog Gaslamp Ball

Poll

How many games will the Dodgers win this series?

0

0 votes

1

3 votes

2

32 votes

All 3

66 votes

101 votes | Poll has closed

SB Nation - Josh Geer

Brewers Pitching Philosophy: A Single Is Not Enough

2009 NL Wild Card: the Los Angeles Dodgers?

THE NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST HAS ALREADY BEEN DECIDED. THE RACE IS OVER.

NL West Report

Los Angeles (67-45, 1st, L3)

Chad Billingsley

#58 / Pitcher / Los Angeles Dodgers

Los Angeles Dodgers Injuries

Doubtful

15-Day

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Arizona (50-62, 4th, L3, 17 GB)

Daniel Cabrera

#45 / Pitcher / Arizona Diamondbacks

Arizona Diamondbacks Injuries

15-Day

60 Day DL / Out for the season

San Diego (47-66, 5th, L1, 20.5 GB)

Mark Prior

#22 / Pitcher / San Diego Padres

San Diego Padres Injuries

15-Day

60 Day DL / Out for the season

San Francisco (61-50, t-2nd, L1, 5.5 GB)

Matt Cain

#18 / Pitcher / San Francisco Giants

San Francisco Giants Injuries

15-Day

60 Day DL / Out for the season

What do you think about the NL West race?

Irrational optimism is cute. This race has been over for months

Guardedly optimistic. It's definitely doable, but I doubt it will happen

I'll drink that Kool-Aid. Either the Giants or Rockies will catch them

Oblivious. Nudge me if the deficit is cut to 2 games.

The ancient, mystical society of No-Homers will not stand for all these homers! Reds win, 6-4.

Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Key Plays

Other Notes

The Buzzsaw That Is Clayton Kershaw

Can it get worse for San Diego? It had better this weekend

San Diego Padres (36-52, W1, 5th, 20 GB)

Thursday-Sunday: 4-game series at Petco Park

The Bats: D

The Arms: D

Probable Pitchers:

Can we sweep a four game series at Petco?

Yes. They're terrible. Even their All-Stars have been embarrassing

No, but three out of four ain't bad.

No. Split in San Diego. Darn it

No. This is embarrassing. Who loses a series to the Padres?!

No. We get swept and spanked by the San Diego Dads

Manny Ramirez smashes first home run since return

Dodgers Look To Get Offense In Geer

Manny Ramirez a.k.a. "Mannywood" returns to the Dodgers

With Manny Ramirez's return to the lineup, are the Dodgers without question the best team in the NL?

Yes

No

They already were, even without Manny

Big FIrst Inning Allows Dodgers to Walk to Victory

Dodgers vs. Padres Series Preview

How many games will the Dodgers win this series?

0

1

2

All 3