SB Nation - Guillermo Mota

Dodgers Face Tuesday Decisions For Hudson, Wolf, Others

Eric Stephen — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 03:09:00 -0000

More photos » by Danny Moloshok - AP

The extent of communication between Joe Torre and Orlando Hudson

Tuesday could be an important day in determining the shape of the Dodger offseason. December 1 is decision day for clubs to offer arbitration to free agents in the top 40% at their respective positions. Players are ranked by the Elias Sports Bureau based on stats from the previous two seasons, and split into groups:

Type A free agents: in the top 20% of their respective position group
Type B free agents: in the top 40%, but not in the top 20%, of their respective position group

By offering arbitration, a club guarantees itself some form of compensation should the player decide to leave. Type A free agents net two draft picks to the former club -- one in the first round (unless that club has a protected pick in the top 15) and one supplemental pick between the first and second rounds. If a team signs more than one Type A free agent, picks in subsequent rounds are used, and the former team of the higher-ranking free agent (based on the Elias rankings) gets the higher pick. For instance, last year the Yankees gave up picks in the first three rounds for signing Type A free agents Mark Teixeira (1st round to Angels), C.C. Sabathia (2nd round to Milwaukee), and A.J. Burnett (3rd round to Toronto). Type B free agents net just a supplemental pick.

If a player accepts arbitration, he is bound to the team for another year. Player and club each submit a salary figure sometime between January 5 and January 15, and if they don't come to a contract agreement on their own, will face off in an arbitration hearing sometime between February 1 and February 20.

The deadline to offer arbitration to these free agents is Tuesday night, December 1, at 9pm. Players have until Monday night, December 7, to accept or decline the offer.

Here's a look at the Type A and Type B free agents for the Dodgers:

Orlando Hudson

2009 Salary: $7.99 million

2009 Stats: .283/.353/.417, 109 OPS+, 2.9 WAR, 74 runs, 35 doubles, one cycle

2010 Age: 32

2010 Free Agent Status: Type A

Hudson is the litmus test for the offseason. Offering him arbitration should be a no-brainer. Hudson is exactly the type of player you would want back on a one-year deal. He compares favorably with all the other second base options, but if he accepts arbitration the Dodgers wouldn't be on the hook for a multi-year contract. But here's the thing: there is no way Hudson will accept arbitration. Hudson split time in September with Ronnie Belliard at second base, then the O-Dog was benched for the playoffs. As a player who was an All-Star this season, as well as a Gold Glover (deservedly or not), Hudson was rightfully miffed at his benching, as Ramona Shelburne noted last month in the LA Daily News:

According to Hudson, Torre never once called him into his office to discuss the situation, a slap in the face Hudson has trouble accepting.

"My teammates talked to me about it more than Joe did, but I never had any answers because (Torre) and I never talked," Hudson said. "There was no conversation."

Does this sound like someone who wants to come back? No way. But even if he does return, as unlikely as it seems, it would be good for the Dodgers. If the Dodgers are so risk averse as to try to avoid the infinitesimal chance the Hudson would cost them another $8 million or so, that's a bad sign. Only good things can happen by offering Hudson arbitration:

Hudson declines arbitration, signs elsewhere, and the Dodgers get two draft picks in 2010
Hudson accepts arbitration, Dodgers get a 2.5 to 3-win player for a one-year deal

If the Dodgers don't offer arbitration, it will be for monetary reasons only. Saving money in the short-term on things they should be spending money on will only hurt the team in the long run.

Prediction: I hope I'm wrong, but the Dodgers won't offer Hudson arbitration

Randy Wolf

2009 Salary: $8 million

2009 Stats: 11-7, 3.23 ERA, 122 ERA+, 4.00 FIP, 4.28 x-FIP, career high in starts (34), innings (214.1) and WHIP (1.101)

2010 Age: 33

2010 Free Agent Status: Type A

Wolf is another guy that would be great to have back on a one-year deal, another easy choice to offer arbitration. The starting pitching free agent market isn't so hot, and Wolf just might be the second-best free agent starter behind John Lackey. Wolf is bound to get a multi-year contract somewhere.

Prediction: Wolf gets offered arbitration

Ronnie Belliard

2009 Salary: $1.9 million

2009 Stats: .277/.351/.425, 105 OPS+, 1.3 WAR, 10 HR, 39 runs, 39 RBI in 287 PA

2010 Age: 35

2010 Free Agent Status: Type B

Belliard would be a nice player to have back, a right-hander with some pop off the bench. He can spot start at second or third base, even if his glove scares the hell out of me at the hot corner. After 2007, he signed a two-year, $3.5 million contract following five years as a regular player. He is coming off two years as a sub (624 combined in 2008-2009), so I don't think he would get anything more than $1.5-$2 million in arbitration. I would offer Belliard arbitration, gladly taking either the supplemental pick or Mini Manny for 2010.

Prediction: Dodgers don't offer arbitration to Belliard

Vicente Padilla

2009 Salary: $12 million

2009 Stats: 12-6, 4.46 ERA, 100 ERA+, 4.45 FIP, 2.0 WAR, 147.1 innings

2010 Age: 32

2010 Free Agent Status: Type B

After Padilla climbed his way up the Dodger starting pitching ladder to the top spot in October -- he was the only Dodger starter to make three starts in the postseason -- it would be hard for the club to argue against his worth in arbitration. That said, Padilla reeks of Jose Lima. If the Dodgers want him back, it's best to sign him to a deal smaller than he would receive in arbitration. The Dodgers are already way ahead on the Padilla transaction. It's better to pick up their chips and cash them in rather than buy in for another round.

Prediction: No; offering Padilla arbitration is the equivalent of shooting yourself in the leg

Jon Garland

2009 Salary: $7.25 million

2009 Stats: 11-13, 4.01 ERA, 111 ERA+, 4.48 FIP, 2.4 WAR, 204 innings

2010 Age: 30

2010 Free Agent Status: Type B

With Garland, it is never pretty or flashy, as his career 4.7 strikeouts per nine innings suggest. However, Garland isn't a bad guy to have fill out the back end of a rotation: a league average or slightly below average pitcher that puts up 200 innings a year and doesn't miss a start. That said, if the Dodgers want Garland back, they would be better served to try to sign him to a lower deal on the open market rather than head to arbitration.

Prediction: No; if the Dodgers wanted to pay Garland anything significant in 2010, they wouldn't have declined his 2010 option.

Guillermo Mota

2009 Salary: $2.35 million

2009 Stats: 65.1 innings, 3.44 ERA, 115 ERA+, 4.12 FIP, 4.49 x-FIP, -0.1 WAR

2010 Age: 35

2010 Free Agent Status: Type B

The Dodger bullpen is loaded as is. There is really no point to pay anything for someone who shouldn't be higher than sixth or seventh at best on the depth chart. Fun fact: Mota has the fifth best ERA+ ever (143) by a Dodger reliever (minimum 200 games).

Prediction: The Dodgers will not offer arbitration to Mota

Will Ohman

2009 Salary: $1.35 million

2009 Stats: 12.1 innings, 5.84 ERA, 68 ERA+, 7.93 FIP, 5.68 x-FIP, lots and lots of DL time

2010 Age: 32

2010 Free Agent Status: Type B

With George Sherrill and Hong-Chih Kuo in the bullpen, Ohman is simply redundant as another lefty reliever. Ohman was hurt for most of the year, and I never got a chance to interview him, which is a shame because from some of the excerpts from spring training he seemed hilarious.

Prediction: No; like Garland, if the Dodgers wanted Ohman back, they would have picked up his 2010 option.

The Dodgers have seven decisions to make by Tuesday night. I think they should offer arbitration to three (Hudson, Wolf, and Belliard), but I believe they will only offer arbitration to Randy Wolf.

Take the Braves out of the running for these free agents

gondeee — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:28:22 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

Was it Divine intervention that prevented the Atlanta Braves from signing Rafael Furcal... or just his agents.

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Last off-season the Atlanta Braves announced they had come to terms with free agent Rafael Furcal on a three-year contract... but less than 24-hours later Furcal had signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. In the aftermath of that episode, Braves President John Schuerholtz stated that the Braves would never again do business with Furcal's agents, the Wasserman Group, headed by super-agent Arn Tellem.

As a side note to this, if we had signed Furcal, then we would have moved Kelly Johnson to left field, we never would have signed Garret Anderson, and Martin Prado may never have emerged as a bona fide major league starter at second base. And we might have traded Yunel Escobar somewhere. Things tend to work out for the best sometimes, as Furcal layed an egg in 2009.

Here are the free agents this off-season who are represented by the Wasserman Group, and are therefore off-limits to the Braves (courtesy of MLBTR):

Wilson Betemit
Aaron Boone
Nomar Garciaparra
Jason Giambi
John Grabow
Rich Harden
Shawn Hill
Reed Johnson
Jason Kendall
Hideki Matsui
Jason Michaels
Guillermo Mota
Vicente Padilla
Wily Mo Pena
Joel Pineiro
Matt Treanor
Randy Wolf
Omar Vizquel

I must say that there's no one I really want on that list, so for this year at least, no harm, no foul.

A Look Toward 2010: The Pitching

Eric Stephen — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:00:33 -0000

More photos » by Jae C. Hong - AP

Clayton Kershaw's left arm personifies the Dodgers' immediate future

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Yesterday we took a look at the offensive projections for the 2010 Dodgers, thanks to the Bill James Handbook (available November 1). Today we look at the pitching staff.

I calculated FIP for the projections based on the formula at The Hardball Times. In these projections, keep in mind that playing time and pitching role is merely estimated.

Starters
Clayton Kershaw
Year	IP	ERA	FIP	BB/9	K/9
2009 projected	---	---	---	---	---
2009 actual	171.0	2.79	3.06	4.79	9.74
2010 projected	180	3.25	3.47	4.55	9.40
2010 status	under club control

Chad Billingsley
Year	IP	ERA	FIP	BB/9	K/9
2009 projected	193	3.68	3.72	3.92	8.81
2009 actual	196.1	4.03	3.77	3.94	8.21
2010 projected	185	3.65	3.77	3.94	8.61
2010 status	arbitration eliglble

Randy Wolf
Year	IP	ERA	FIP	BB/9	K/9
2009 projected	195	4.25	4.30	3.32	7.62
2009 actual	214.1	3.23	3.99	2.44	6.72
2010 projected	200	3.87	4.26	3.02	7.16
2010 status	Type A free agent

Hiroki Kuroda
Year	IP	ERA	FIP	BB/9	K/9
2009 projected	192	3.89	4.38	2.53	5.86
2009 actual	117.1	3.76	3.61	1.84	6.67
2010 projected	128	3.80	4.29	2.46	5.98
2010 status	under contract

Vicente Padilla
Year	IP	ERA	FIP	BB/9	K/9
2009 projected	151	4.71	4.71	3.28	6.26
2009 actual	147.1	4.46	4.51	3.30	5.93
2010 projected	141	4.66	4.73	3.26	6.19
2010 status	Type B free agent
Padilla's stats with Texas included

Jon Garland
Year	IP	ERA	FIP	BB/9	K/9
2009 projected	186	4.69	5.02	2.90	4.40
2009 actual	204	4.01	4.43	2.69	4.81
2010 projected	216	4.33	4.62	2.67	4.54
2010 status	mutual contract option
Garland's stats with Arizona included

Bullpen
Jonathan Broxton
Year	IP	ERA	FIP	BB/9	K/9
2009 projected	70	3.09	2.63	3.47	11.19
2009 actual	76.0	2.61	1.98	3.43	13.50
2010 projected	80	2.36	2.44	3.49	11.70
2010 status	arbitration eliglble

George Sherrill
Year	IP	ERA	FIP	BB/9	K/9
2009 projected	53	3.40	3.43	4.58	10.19
2009 actual	69.0	1.70	3.09	3.13	7.96
2010 projected	74	2.92	3.37	4.01	9.36
2010 status	arbitration eliglble
Sherrill's stats with Baltimore included

Hong-Chih Kuo
Year	IP	ERA	FIP	BB/9	K/9
2009 projected	69	3.39	2.90	3.52	10.96
2009 actual	30.0	3.00	3.18	3.90	9.60
2010 projected	48	3.00	3.00	3.75	10.50
2010 status	arbitration eliglble

Ronald Belisario
Year	IP	ERA	FIP	BB/9	K/9
2009 projected	---	---	---	---	---
2009 actual	70.2	2.04	3.26	3.69	8.15
2010 projected	69	4.04	4.25	4.17	7.17
2010 status	under club control

Ramon Troncoso
Year	IP	ERA	FIP	BB/9	K/9
2009 projected	---	---	---	---	---
2009 actual	82.2	2.72	3.31	3.70	5.99
2010 projected	72	3.88	3.59	3.75	6.63
2010 status	under club control

James McDonald
Year	IP	ERA	FIP	BB/9	K/9
2009 projected	---	---	---	---	---
2009 actual	63.0	4.00	4.29	4.86	7.71
2010 projected	74	3.77	4.27	4.01	9.12
2010 status	under club control

Guillermo Mota
Year	IP	ERA	FIP	BB/9	K/9
2009 projected	56	3.86	4.26	3.38	7.55
2009 actual	65.1	3.44	4.11	3.31	5.37
2010 projected	55	3.60	4.22	3.44	7.20
2010 status	Type B free agent

In addition, there were some 2010 projections for other Dodgers.

Other Projections
Pitcher	IP	ERA	FIP	BB/9	K/9	2010 Contract Status
Eric Stults	32	5.06	4.62	3.38	7.03	under club control (out of options)
Jeff Weaver	77	5.03	4.77	2.57	5.96	free agent
Charlie Haeger	38	4.97	5.26	4.50	6.39	under club control

Dodger Roster Breakdown

Eric Stephen — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:15:09 -0000

by Mark J. Terrill - AP

One Type B free agent greets a Type A free agent on the mound

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There will be plenty of time this offseason for moves, but here's an overview of the current Dodger 40-man roster. There are 43 players currently on the 40-man roster, including four on the 60-day disabled list. That will change quickly after the World Series as players file for free agency. I have split them into a few groups:

Free Agents (13+1)

Type A*: Orlando Hudson, Randy Wolf

Type B*: Ronnie Belliard, Guillermo Mota, Vicente Padilla, Will Ohman**

Others: Jim Thome, Brad Ausmus, Jason Schmidt, Mark Loretta, Juan Castro, Eric Milton, Doug Mientkiewicz, Jeff Weaver

*Eddie Bajek of Detroit Tigers Thoughts has done a great job of figuring out the Elias Rankings, and has posted them at MLB Trade Rumors. In order to receive compensation for Type A or Type B free agents, the club must offer them arbitration. Type A free agents net a first round pick from the team that signs them, provided the pick isn't in the top 15, in addition to a supplemental pick in between the first and second rounds.

If a team signs more than one Type A free agent, the players are ranked by their Elias ranking, they give up picks in the lower rounds as well. For instance, the Yankees last year gave up their first three picks for signing C.C. Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, and A.J. Burnett, all Type A free agents. Type B free agents net only a supplemental pick.

There is always the risk that a player will accept arbitration (like Darren Oliver did with the Angels last season). If he does, the maximum salary cut a player can take is 20%, so for Guillermo Mota, for instance, the least he would make in arbitration in 2010 would be $1.88 million (80% of his $2.35 million 2009 salary). In the case of Hudson and Wolf, they had low base salaries so this isn't an issue, but there is still quite a risk because they are still likely to command a high salary in arbitration.

**I'm counting Will Ohman in this exercise, even though he is no longer on the 40-man since his option was bought out last week, but the Dodgers, however unlikely, can still offer Ohman arbitration if they so choose.

What should happen: Offer arbitration to Hudson, Wolf, and Belliard only

Options (2)

Manny Ramirez has a $20 million player option for 2010. He has until November 10 to accept or decline this option.
Jon Garland has a $10 million mutual option for 2010. If the Dodgers decline, his buyout is $2.5 million; if Garland declines, his buyout is $1 million. As a condition of Garland's acquisition, the Diamondbacks will pay either buyout if the option is not exercised. Even if either side opts out, Garland is a Type B free agent, and the Dodgers could offer him arbitration if they so choose.

What should happen: Manny comes back, Dodgers let Arizona pay Garland $2.5m to walk away, don't offer Garland arbitration

Arbitration Eligible (9)

Player	Service Time	2009 Base Salary
George Sherrill	4.147	$2,750,000
Jonathan Broxton	4.020	$1,825,000
Andre Ethier	3.153	$3,100,000
Russell Martin	3.150	$3,900,000
Hong-Chih Kuo	3.114	$437,000
Chad Billingsley	3.110	$475,000
Matt Kemp	3.049	$467,000
James Loney	3.012	$465,000
Jason Repko	3.067	$500,000

Look for: Repko to get non-tendered

Under Contract (4)

Player	2009 Salary	2010 Salary
Rafael Furcal	$10,500,000	$8,500,000
Juan Pierre	$10,000,000	$10,000,000
Casey Blake	$5,250,000	$6,000,000
Hiroki Kuroda	$10,000,000	$13,000,000

Under Team Control (15)

Player	Service Time	2009 Base Salary
Ramon Troncoso	1.119	$401,000
Clayton Kershaw	1.105	$404,000
Cory Wade	1.096	$402,500
Eric Stults	1.072	$402,000
Blake DeWitt	1.048	$405,000
James McDonald	1.004	$400,750
Ronald Belisario	1.000	$400,000
Chin-Lung Hu	0.153	$401,000
Xavier Paul	0.151	$400,000
Charlie Haeger	0.125	$400,000
Scott Elbert	0.097	$400,000
Brent Leach	0.090	$400,000
A.J. Ellis	0.081	$400,000
Travis Schlichting	0.055	$400,000
Lucas May	0.000	------

Here are some important dates to remember for the offseason:

Day After World Series Ends: begins 15-day period for eligible players to file for free agency

November 20: Date reserve lists must be set (adding players to 40-man roster for purposes of Rule 5 draft)

December 1: Last date to offer arbitration to free agents to receive compensation

December 10: Rule 5 draft

December 12: Deadline to tender contracts to players under team control or pre-free agency arbitration-eligible players

It will be a long offseason, but the hot stove is always interesting.

Dodgers Season In Thirds

Eric Stephen — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 02:40:13 -0000

More photos » by Jae C. Hong - AP

2 months ago: Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre watches baseball practice in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009. The Dodgers face the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 1 of the National League division series Wednesday. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

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Now that the regular season is over, here's a look at the Dodger season in thirds.

Here's an overview of the team numbers:

	W-L	Pythag Rec	Runs For	Runs Allowed	BA/OBP/SLG	ERA
Games 1-54	36-18	35-19	295 (5.46/gm)	208 (3.85/gm)	.285/.367/.414	3.75
Games 55-108	30-24	30-24	244 (4.52/gm)	214 (3.96/gm)	.272/.340/.418	3.45
Games 109-162	29-25	33-21	241 (4.46/gm)	189 (3.50/gm)	.253/.330/.402	3.03

The offense took a dip in the final 54 games, but the pitching was outstanding.

Here is a look at individual seasons in thirds, position by position:

Catcher
Russell Martin
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	47	46	173	23	46	9	0	0	20	29	7/3	.266/.377/.318	.695
2nd 54	50	47	172	22	46	4	0	3	13	24	1/3	.267/.373/.343	.716
3rd 54	46	43	160	18	34	6	0	4	20	16	3/0	.213/.298/.325	.623

Brad Ausmus
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	11	8	35	6	11	1	0	0	3	2	1/0	.314/.368/.343	.711
2nd 54	12	9	32	3	11	3	0	1	4	2	0/0	.344/.400/.531	.931
3rd 54	13	10	28	0	6	0	0	0	2	1	0/0	.214/.241/.214	.456

A.J. Ellis
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
2nd 54	3	1	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	.000/.000/.000	.000
3rd 54	5	1	6	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0/0	.167/.167/.167	.333

Infield
James Loney
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	54	51	208	24	59	12	0	2	41	22	3/1	.284/.348/.370	.718
2nd 54	53	51	198	27	59	9	2	5	27	23	3/1	.298/.371/.439	.810
3rd 54	51	45	170	22	44	4	0	6	22	25	1/1	.259/.352/.388	.740

Orlando Hudson
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	54	54	216	39	71	17	2	3	32	32	4/0	.329/.410/.468	.878
2nd 54	50	48	195	22	49	11	2	4	21	10	2/0	.251/.299/.390	.688
3rd 54	45	41	140	13	36	7	2	2	9	20	2/1	.257/.350/.379	.729

Rafael Furcal
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	46	42	189	27	47	8	0	1	11	18	3/3	.249/.314/.307	.621
2nd 54	54	50	216	33	61	10	3	5	21	23	3/1	.282/.350/.426	.776
3rd 54	50	49	208	32	57	10	2	3	15	20	6/2	.274/.339/.385	.724

Casey Blake
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	49	44	164	27	49	12	1	9	34	18	0/0	.299/.374/.549	.922
2nd 54	53	50	195	32	54	11	3	3	27	25	2/4	.277/.353/.410	.763
3rd 54	37	37	126	25	33	2	2	6	18	20	1/0	.262/.367/.452	.819

Mark Loretta
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	38	10	59	11	17	3	0	0	10	11	0/0	.288/.408/.339	.747
2nd 54	38	11	69	5	13	3	0	0	10	6	0/0	.188/.253/.232	.485
3rd 54	31	11	53	3	12	2	0	0	5	3	1/1	.226/.259/.264	.523

Juan Castro
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	19	12	44	12	15	2	0	1	7	5	0/0	.341/.400/.455	.855
2nd 54	17	10	38	2	11	1	0	0	2	1	0/0	.289/.308/.316	.623
3rd 54	21	7	30	4	5	1	0	0	0	0	0/0	.167/.167/.200	.367

Blake DeWitt
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	9	3	17	1	3	0	0	0	0	1	0/0	.176/.222/.176	.399
2nd 54	14	0	15	1	2	1	0	1	1	1	0/0	.133/.188/.400	.588
3rd 54	8	3	17	2	5	2	0	1	3	1	0/0	.294/.316/.588	.904

Doug Mientkiewicz
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	7	0	5	0	2	1	0	0	2	0	0/0	.400/.400/.600	1.000
3rd 54	13	1	13	0	4	0	0	0	1	1	0/0	.308/.400/.308	.708

Ronnie Belliard
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
3rd 54	24	19	77	13	27	7	0	5	17	6	1/0	.351/.398/.636	1.034

Chin-Lung Hu
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
3rd 54	5	1	5	2	2	1	0	0	2	0	0/0	.400/.333/.600	.933

Tony Abreu
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
3rd 54	6	2	8	0	2	0	0	0	1	3	0/1	.250/.455/.250	.705

Outfield
Andre Ethier
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	52	49	188	31	49	12	0	7	31	27	3/0	.261/.363/.436	.799
2nd 54	54	52	212	34	60	13	1	15	38	23	2/3	.283/.357/.566	.923
3rd 54	54	49	196	27	53	17	2	9	37	22	1/1	.270/.362/.515	.877

Matt Kemp
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	53	51	200	33	62	9	4	6	30	21	12/2	.310/.377/.485	.862
2nd 54	53	53	200	30	66	7	2	9	39	19	10/2	.330/.387/.520	.907
3rd 54	54	49	206	34	52	9	1	11	32	12	12/4	.252/.293/.466	.759

Manny Ramirez
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	27	27	92	22	32	9	0	6	20	26	0/0	.348/.492/.641	1.133
2nd 54	28	25	96	14	26	7	1	6	20	12	0/0	.271/.369/.552	.921
3rd 54	49	47	164	26	44	8	1	7	23	33	0/1	.268/.400/.457	.857

Juan Pierre
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	46	30	140	27	53	10	3	0	21	13	11/4	.379/.439/.493	.932
2nd 54	50	31	147	15	37	5	1	0	4	7	12/5	.252/.308/.299	.607
3rd 54	49	15	93	15	27	1	4	0	6	7	7/3	.290/.343/.387	.730
Jason Repko
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
3rd 54	13	1	13	0	4	0	0	0	1	1	0/0	.308/.400/.308	.708

Jamie Hoffmann
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	9	3	17	2	3	2	0	1	7	0	0/0	.176/.158/.471	.628
2nd 54	5	0	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	.200/.200/.200	.400

Xavier Paul
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
1st 54	11	2	14	3	3	1	0	1	1	2	0/1	.214/.313/.500	.813

Mitch Jones
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
2nd 54	8	3	13	1	4	1	0	0	0	0	0/0	.308/.400/.385	.785

Pinch Hitters
Jim Thome
	G	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS
3rd 54	17	0	17	0	4	0	0	0	3	0	0/0	.235/.235/.235	.471

Starting Pitchers
Randy Wolf
	G	GS	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	12	12	3-1	75.2	64	30	27	22	58	3.21	1.137
2nd 54	11	11	2-5	64.1	62	28	27	17	48	3.78	1.228
3rd 54	11	11	6-1	74.1	52	23	23	19	54	2.78	0.955

Clayton Kershaw
	G	GS	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	10	10	3-3	56.0	40	27	27	32	55	4.34	1.286
2nd 54	12	12	5-3	68.2	47	14	13	39	68	1.70	1.252
3rd 54	9	8	0-2	46.1	32	14	13	20	62	2.53	1.122

Chad Billingsley
	G	GS	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	11	11	6-3	74.0	58	25	23	32	76	2.80	1.216
2nd 54	12	12	5-3	69.2	63	40	38	31	64	4.91	1.349
3rd 54	10	9	1-5	52.2	52	29	27	23	39	4.61	1.424

Hiroki Kuroda
	G	GS	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	2	2	1-1	10.2	7	3	3	4	8	2.53	1.031
2nd 54	12	11	3-4	66.1	69	38	35	12	52	4.75	1.221
3rd 54	7	7	4-2	40.1	34	18	11	8	27	2.45	1.041

Eric Stults
	G	GS	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	9	9	4-2	45.0	46	24	24	25	30	4.80	1.578
3rd 54	1	1	0-1	5.0	5	3	3	1	3	5.40	1.200

Vicente Padilla
	G	GS	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
3rd 54	8	7	4-0	39.1	36	15	14	12	38	3.20	1.220

Jon Garland
	G	GS	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
3rd 54	6	6	3-2	36.1	37	16	11	9	26	2.72	1.266

Charlie Haeger
	G	GS	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
3rd 54	6	3	1-1	19.0	13	7	7	4	7	3.32	0.895

Eric Milton
	G	GS	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	3	3	2-0	14.1	15	5	5	5	10	3.14	1.395
2nd 54	2	2	0-1	9.1	15	7	5	1	10	4.82	1.714

Jason Schmidt
	G	GS	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2nd 54	4	4	2-2	17.2	16	12	11	12	8	5.60	1.585

Relievers
Jonathan Broxton
	G	W-L	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	23	5-0	12	26.0	8	4	4	10	41	1.38	0.692
2nd 54	23	2-0	12	22.2	17	11	11	11	33	4.37	1.235
3rd 54	27	0-2	12	27.1	19	9	7	8	40	2.30	0.988

George Sherrill
	G	W-L	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2nd 54	3	0-0	--	2.1	0	0	0	1	5	0.00	0.429
3rd 54	27	1-0	1	25.1	19	2	2	10	17	0.71	1.145

Hong-Chih Kuo
	G	W-L	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	7	0-0	--	5.1	5	4	4	4	4	6.75	1.688
2nd 54	5	0-0	--	4.2	0	0	0	2	6	0.00	0.429
3rd 54	23	1-0	--	20.0	16	6	6	7	22	2.70	1.150

Ramon Troncoso
	G	W-L	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	21	1-0	3	33.1	31	7	7	10	22	1.89	1.230
2nd 54	30	3-0	2	31.1	30	11	7	12	18	2.01	1.340
3rd 54	22	1-4	1	18.0	22	12	11	12	15	5.60	1.889

Ronald Belisario
	G	W-L	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	26	1-2	--	31.1	22	10	8	15	30	2.30	1.181
2nd 54	17	0-1	--	17.0	15	5	5	5	16	2.65	1.176
3rd 54	26	0-3	--	22.1	15	6	3	9	18	1.21	1.075

Guillermo Mota
	G	W-L	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	20	2-1	--	20.2	26	15	15	12	10	6.53	1.839
2nd 54	28	1-1	--	32.1	15	3	3	6	18	0.84	0.649
3rd 54	13	0-2	--	12.1	12	7	7	6	11	5.11	1.459

Jeff Weaver
	G	GS	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	9	3	3-1	26.2	29	12	12	15	18	4.05	1.650
2nd 54	10	2	2-3	30.1	33	16	14	10	24	4.15	1.418
3rd 54	9	2	1-0	22.0	25	6	6	8	22	2.45	1.500

James McDonald
	G	GS	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	10	4	1-1	18.2	17	14	14	16	9	6.75	1.768
2nd 54	15	0	2-1	20.2	17	9	5	6	14	2.18	1.113
3rd 54	20	0	2-3	23.2	26	11	9	12	31	3.42	1.606

Scott Elbert
	G	W-L	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	3	1-0	--	6.1	10	5	5	1	6	7.11	1.737
2nd 54	4	0-0	--	7.2	3	1	1	2	7	1.17	0.652
3rd 54	12	1-0	--	5.2	6	5	5	4	8	7.94	1.765

Brent Leach
	G	W-L	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	13	1-0	--	8.0	7	5	5	4	10	5.62	1.375
2nd 54	25	1-0	--	12.1	9	8	8	8	9	5.84	1.378

Cory Wade
	G	W-L	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	18	0-3	--	18.2	19	10	10	9	13	4.82	1.500
2nd 54	9	2-0	--	9.0	9	7	7	1	5	7.00	1.111

Will Ohman
	G	W-L	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1st 54	21	1-0	1	12.1	12	8	8	8	7	5.84	1.622

Claudio Vargas
	G	W-L	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2nd 54	8	0-0	--	11.0	7	2	2	4	10	1.64	1.000

Travis Schlichting
	G	W-L	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2nd 54	2	0-0	--	2.2	1	2	1	5	2	3.38	2.250

Mark Loretta
	G	W-L	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2nd 54	1	0-0	--	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.000

The Dodgers & Their Postseason Roster

Eric Stephen — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:00:24 -0000

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

Will Doug Mientkiewicz be on the active roster come Wednesday?

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The rosters for the division series don't need to be turned in until 10am on Wednesday, but here's a look at the likely Dodger NLDS active roster. Keep in mind, this is what I think the Dodgers will do, not necessarily what I would want them to do.

NLDS: Cardinals vs. Dodgers
Game 1	Wed	Dodger Stadium	6:37pm
Game 2	Thu	Dodger Stadium	likely 3:07pm
Game 3	Sat	Busch Stadium	3:07pm
Game 4*	Sun	Busch Stadium	TBD
Game 5*	Oct 13	Dodger Stadium	TBD
*if necessary		All times Pacific
All games televised on TBS

First, the locks:

Catchers (2)
Russell Martin, Brad Ausmus

Infielders (7)
James Loney, Orlando Hudson, Rafael Furcal, Casey Blake, Ronnie Belliard, Juan Castro, Mark Loretta

Outfielders (4)
Manny Ramirez, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Juan Pierre

Starting Pitchers (2)
Randy Wolf, Clayton Kershaw

Relief Pitchers (5)
Jonathan Broxton, George Sherrill, Hong-Chih Kuo, Ronald Belisario, Ramon Troncoso

That leaves five spots:

Lefty Pinch-Hitter (1)
Jim Thome has struggled as a pinch hitter, both this season and in his career. He has four singles in 17 at-bats as a Dodger. He can't run, because he's slow and because he has a bad foot. He can't play first base, because of chronic back problems. Yet I believe he will make the roster over Doug Mientkiewicz, simply because Thome represents the threat of power, something lacking on the Dodger bench. Mientkiewicz would be a fine choice for a spot, especially if his shoulder is healed enough to play first base if needed, and in fact I would take him over Loretta, but I don't think that will happen.

Starting Pitchers (2)
Three guys are fighting for two spots, to start games three and four. Joe Torre hasn't officially named his starters for those games yet, but based on other comments he has made, I believe Chad Billingsley will start game three as long as he gets through his simulated game today in Arizona without any problems. That leaves Vicente Padilla and Jon Garland fighting for the other two spots. Padilla has pitched better of late, but over the course of the season, they were pretty similar pitchers (4.46 FIP for Padilla, 4.48 for Garland). I believe Padilla will be the choice to start Sunday in St. Louis.

Relief Pitchers (2)
I think Garland gets the nod as the long man in the pen, leaving Jeff Weaver out in the cold. That leaves one more bullpen spot, which I think will go to James McDonald, over Guillermo Mota and Scott Elbert. McDonald had a good season as a reliever, after a shaky start in the rotation, posting a 2.72 ERA and a 3.41 FIP from the bullpen. Over the last two months, McDonald has passed Mota on the depth chart, even when Mota was fully healthy. The other viable option is Elbert, because the Cardinals struggle so much against left-handed pitchers. However, the Cardinals really only have three lefty batters: Skip Schumaker, Colby Rasmus, and Rick Ankiel. Their struggles with southpaws are largely due to their right handers failing to hit them (hitting .244/.328/.392), and I don't think Torre would use Elbert to face a righty, regardless of how they hit lefties. If the Dodgers were facing the Phillies, Elbert would have been more likely to make the roster, simply because they have more left handed batters Elbert could face in a LOOGY situation.

That's my prediction for the NLDS roster. What's yours?

Dodgers Week 24 In Review: Finish Line In Sight

Eric Stephen — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:00:21 -0000

More photos » by Keith Birmingham - AP

Its better that Jonathan Broxton misses his target on high fives with Russell Martin than on pitches to Russell Martin.

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Previous Weekly Recaps: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23

The Dodgers dropped the hammer at home this week, winning five of six against the Pirates and Giants, bringing them to the precipice of a second-straight division championship. The Dodgers really put it all together this week, combining a hot offense with stellar pitching, and outscored their opponents 36 to 18. This was just the second week of the season that the Dodgers scored at least double the runs of their foes. Way back in their undefeated week two, the Dodgers outscored the Giants and Rockies 50-17, also at home.

Seven of the eight regulars, plus the top two subs, had an OPS of .841 or higher during the week, as the offense scored six runs per game for the second straight week. To become just the third Los Angeles Dodger team ever to score 800 runs, the Dodgers have an uphill climb, needing 74 runs over their final 12 games, an average of 6.17 per contest.

The pitching was also great, as the starters put up an earned run average under three and the relievers put up an ERA under two. Seven of the nine relievers who pitched this week didn't allow a run.

The Dodgers have a five-game division lead over the Rockies with 12 games to play, as the inevitable truth of their 11th National League West division title is getting closer and closer. The last time the Dodgers won back-to-back division titles was 1977-1978.

Dodger Batter of the Week: Ronnie Belliard had another great week as a super-sub, but this award goes to the man Belliard tied for the club RBI lead during the week, Andre Ethier. Ethier hit three home runs during the week, all of which gave the Dodgers the lead, none more memorable than Tuesday night's game-ender against Pittsburgh, his sixth walk-off hit of the season. Honorable mention goes to Matt Kemp and Rafael Furcal, each of whom put up an OPS over 1.000.

Dodger Pitcher of the Week: Jon Garland gets this award, his second in three weeks as a Dodger. He won both starts, pitching 14 innings with a 1.29 ERA and 1.143 WHIP. There were a lot of candidates this week, including Hiroki Kuroda and his one run allowed in six innings, or any of the back end of the bullpen, who didn't allow a thing all week.

Week 24 Record: 5-1
36 runs scored (6.00 per game)
18 runs allowed (3.00 per game)
.780 pythagorean winning percentage

Overall Seasonal Record: 90-60 (.600)
726 runs scored (4.84 per game)
559 runs allowed (3.73 per game)
.617 pythagorean winning percentage (93-57)

Mr. Walk-Off: Down one with Rafael Furcal on first base in the 13th inning on Tuesday night, Andre Ethier put on his hero cape again, hitting a two-run, game-winning home run off Phil Dumatrait to beat the Pirates 5-4. It was the fourth walk-off home run of the season for Ethier, and his sixth walk-off hit this year. No player in baseball, dating back to at least 1974, has had more walk-off hits in a season than Ethier, and his nine walk-off hits since the beginning of 2008 leads the majors. The Dodgers as a team have 12 walk-off wins this season.

Thirty And A Hundred: Sure, there are more advanced statistics with which to evaluate players, but sometimes the old standbys work just fine. Growing up, 30 home runs and 100 runs batted in were benchmarks of greatness to me, and while they still require context for proper evaluation, a 30/100 season still gives me the warm and fuzzy feelings of old. Andre Ethier's two-run home run off Tim Lincecum on Sunday gave him a career-high 101 runs batted in to go with his career-high 31 home runs. This is just the 36th season in Dodger history (and 21st in LA Dodger history) with 30 homers and 100 RBI, and the first since Adrian Beltre's contract drive in 2004. Matt Kemp is sitting on 25 HR and 95 RBI with 12 games to play, so there is an outside chance for the Dodgers to have 30/100 teammates for the first time since Gary Sheffield and Shawn Green in 2001. Coming into the season, I was sure the Dodgers would have one 30/100 outfielder, Manny Ramirez, but how weird is it that he might be the only Dodger outfielder not to have 30/100 this season?

KuoGeoBro: The terrific trio of Hong-Chih Kuo, George Sherrill, and Jonathan Broxton were great last week, combining for six scoreless innings, but this week they were sublime. The trio faced a combined 30 batters during the week, and nobody reached base. 14 of the 30 took the long walk of shame back to the dugout after striking out.

A Willie Davis Record to Keep: In home game number 77, James Loney hit his first home run at Dodger Stadium this season. Loney last homered at home on August 21, 2008. In between dingers, Loney hit .244/.309/.295 over 343 plate appearances in 86 home games. This means that Willie Davis will keep the Dodger record for most home runs in a season, all on the road, with 11 in 1969. Loney now has 13 home runs on the year, including 12 on the road.

Take The Longball Home: The Dodgers have turned on the power switch of late, homering in a season-high 10 straight games, hitting 17 home runs during the streak. It is the longest streak for the club since 2006, when the Dodgers had streaks of both 10 and 11 games with at least one dinger.

Not Quite Marlon, But Maybe Jermaine?: Ronnie Belliard is making the most of his chance with the Dodgers. He has started 14 of the 19 games since he came to the Dodgers, hitting .304/.339/.589 with four home runs and 14 runs batted in. Back in 2006, another late August middle infield acquisition from Washington, Marlon Anderson, got white hot during the stretch drive, hitting .375/.431/.813 with seven home runs in 73 plate appearances. By the way, Anderson's career high in home runs -- for a season -- was 12. In 18 games as a Dodger, Belliard has more home runs and as many runs batted in as Andruw Jones did in 75 games in 2008. One cost a shade over $35 million; the other cost roughly $363,388 plus Victor Garate.

Power & Speed: Belliard also did some work on the basepaths this week, stealing a base on Saturday against the Giants. He homered that game as well, making Belliard just the third Dodger to hit a home run and steal a base in the same game this season. Matt Kemp has turned the trick thrice, and James Loney did it once.

Furcal's Back?: Hampered both physically and mentally by a sore back all season, Rafael Furcal hasn't been much of a threat to steal this season, even though he has the green light from Joe Torre to do so. However, Furcal turned on the jets this week, with three stolen bases, his most in any week since September 2007.

Mr. Bases Loaded: No Dodger pitcher has pitched with the bases loaded more than Jeff Weaver this season, and boy has he delivered. In 24 plate appearances against him with the bases juiced, Weaver has allowed only one single and three walks, holding batters to a line of .050/.167/.050. None of the 24 plate appearances has resulted in more than one run scoring.

Walk To A Cure: On Friday night, Matt Kemp got his career-high 50th walk, giving the Dodgers eight players with 50 walks, only the third National League team in history to do so. More importantly, the Dodgers fulfilled my "50-Walk Challenge," issued in my first-ever post at True Blue LA. The wonderful readers of this site have stepped up, bringing our total pledged contributions to Think Cure, the official charity of the Dodgers, to $1,000. Thanks to every one for your support.

Transactions: Not a lot of action this week. The only move was when Guillermo Mota was activated from the disabled list before Monday's game, bringing the total number of players on the active roster to 35, including 16 pitchers.

Game By Game Results:

Upcoming Week: The Dodgers travel to the nation's capital on their Monday off day before beginning their final road trip of the season, a nine-game tilt through three cities. This week brings us three games in Washington followed by the first three games of a four-game series in Pittsburgh.

Magic Numbers
To win NL West: 7 (over the Rockies)
To clinch a playoff spot: 4 (over the Giants)

Week 24 Stats

Player	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS	BABIP
Ethier	24	6	7	2	0	3	7	2	0/0	.292/.370/.750	1.120	.286
Kemp	23	6	8	1	0	2	4	2	2/0	.348/.400/.652	1.052	.429
Furcal	20	7	6	1	1	1	1	4	3/0	.300/.417/.600	1.017	.294
Hudson	11	0	4	2	0	0	2	0	0/0	.364/.364/.545	.909	.400
Blake	14	4	4	0	1	0	2	4	0/0	.286/.474/.429	.902	.333
Manny	16	2	3	2	0	1	4	4	0/0	.188/.350/.500	.850	.182
Loney	20	5	6	0	0	1	2	3	0/0	.300/.391/.450	.841	.278
Martin	22	1	4	2	0	0	1	1	0/0	.182/.217/.273	.490	.211
Belliard	12	3	5	1	0	2	7	2	1/0	.417/.500/1.000	1.500	.429
Ausmus	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0/0	.500/.667/.500	1.167	.500
DeWitt	5	1	1	0	0	1	1	0	0/0	.200/.200/.800	1.000	.000
Pierre	8	0	3	0	1	0	1	0	1/1	.375/.375/.625	1.000	.375
Castro	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	.250/.250/.250	.500	.333
Loretta	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0/0	.250/.200/.250	.450	.200
Mientkiewicz	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	.000/.000/.000	.000	-----
Repko	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	.000/.000/.000	.000	.000
Thome	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	.000/.000/.000	.000	.000
Ellis	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	-----/-----/-----	-----	-----
Pitchers	13	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0/0	.000/.071/.000	.071	.000
Totals	205	36	54	11	3	11	33	24	7/1	.263/.345/.507	.852	.283

Pitcher	G	W-L	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
Garland	2	2-0	--	14.0	13	3	2	3	6	1.29	1.143
Kuroda	1	1-0	--	6.0	6	1	1	0	7	1.50	1.000
Wolf	2	1-0	--	13.0	10	5	5	4	8	3.46	1.077
Padilla	1	0-0	--	5.0	8	4	4	1	3	7.20	1.800
Broxton	4	0-0	1	4.0	0	0	0	0	7	0.00	0.000
Sherrill	4	0-0	--	3.1	0	0	0	0	5	0.00	0.000
Kuo	3	0-0	--	3.0	0	0	0	0	2	0.00	0.000
McDonald	1	0-0	--	3.0	2	0	0	1	3	0.00	1.000
Belisario	2	1-0	--	2.1	1	1	0	1	2	0.00	0.857
Weaver	1	0-0	--	1.0	3	0	0	0	1	0.00	3.000
Mota	1	0-0	--	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.000
Billingsley	1	0-0	--	1.2	4	2	2	2	0	10.80	3.600
Troncoso	2	0-1	--	1.1	3	2	2	0	1	13.50	2.250
Totals	6	5-1	1	58.0	50	18	16	12	45	2.48	1.069

Giant Bats Batter the Dodgers

Brendan Scolari — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 07:23:42 -0000

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

See ya ball.

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The Giants doubled up the Dodgers tonight 8-4, not on the strength of their traditionally formidable pitching staff, but on the backs of their hitters. Giants starter Jonathan Sanchez didn't even last log enough to qualify for a win, going only 4.1 innings while allowing 5 hits, 4 runs, and 2 walks with 3 strikeouts. However, the Dodger pitching staff was not up to the task either. They allowed 15 hits, including 6 that went for extra bases.

Vicente Padilla allowed a homerun to Eugenio Velez leading off the game, which portended things to come. In the bottom of the first the first four Dodgers reached base but only one run scored thanks to a Russell Martin double play and a nice (if lucky) play by Jonathan Sanchez to snag a screaming Matt Kemp liner. The one Dodger run scored on a Manny Ramirez double.

Padilla and Sanchez escaped trouble until the third inning, when Pablo Sandoval rocketed a low line drive out to right center that got out in a hurry to score three runs and put the Giants up 4-1. Sanchez returned the favor in the fourth, well, sort of. He threw a 3-2 fastball six inches below Manny's knee's but that wasn't good enough to retire one of the greatest hitters ever, Manny lofted it into the left field seats anyway. That brought the score to 4-3, but that didn't last long. The very next inning Rafael Furcal hit a solo homerun to tie the score at 4 and chase Sanchez from the game.

Ramon Troncoso came in for the top of the 6th inning and was knocked around, allowing three doubles in just two thirds of an inning to put the Giants back up by two. The Dodger offense couldn't muster a comeback from there and fell to the Giants 8-4.

The last two Giants runs came off of Chad Billingsley, who struggled mightily in his relief appearance. Billingsley was supposed to go the last two innings of the game but coudln't close out the ninth and had to be lifted for Guillermo Mota to get the last out with the bases loaded. Chad allowed a homerun to Aaron Rowand, three singles, and two walks in his 1.2 innings pitched. He also didn't strike anyone out, which certainly isn't an encouraging sign for Dodger fans.

Here's the win probability chart for the game. The odds of winning were in the Dodgers favor as late as the sixth inning:

via www.fangraphs.com

Tomorrow Jon Garland (10-11) takes on Brad Penny (10-8) at 1:10 PM in the second game of the three game set. The Dodgers magic number to clinch a playoff spot remains at 8 for the time being.

WP - Bob Howry (2-6): 0.2 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 strikeouts

LP - Ramon Troncoso (4-4): 0.2 IP, 3 hits, 2 runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout

Tuesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:56:01 -0000

by Morry Gash - AP

Fans go after a foul ball hit by Milwaukee Brewers' Jody Gerut during the sixth inning Sunday.

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Some things to read while finding a use for mini helmets.

As of this writing I haven't heard any news on September callups today, but it's widely expected that J.J. Hardy will join the team tonight in St. Louis. Hardy said he feels like he was being punished by the club, and definitely sounds disappointed and upset with the way things have gone. Keep Turning Up the Heat! says the timing of Hardy's return "makes it clear to everyone that service time was the primary factor in Hardy’s demotion."

The Brewers open a three game series in St. Louis tonight, meaning one of two things is about to happen:

They'll lose the series and more or less end any hope of playoff contention, or
They'll win, and we'll all spend the next week hearing about how "disrespectful" they are.

In fact, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch didn't even wait for the series to get started, sneaking some jabs about Ryan Braun into this interview yesterday.

At least the Brewers can look back at this season and remember dominating the Pirates at home. Andy Smith of Bugs & Cranks takes a look back to May 3, 2007, the last time the Pirates won at Miller Park.

Also at Bugs & Cranks today, Tyler Maas and Jack Moore have teamed up to take a look at some lesser known Brewer stats.

Over the weekend, I reported the Brewers and Giants' deadline to work out a deal on Trevor Hoffman had passed, and he wouldn't be moving. It turns out the deadline was actually yesterday. Weekend hours apparently don't count. If that's the case, why do they say "48 hours" and not "two business days?"

In the minors:

Alcides Escobar is representing the Brewers on the PCL Postseason All Star Team. He was the only Brewer selected.
Second baseman Eric Farris, outfielders Caleb Gindl and Logan Schafer and pitcher Amaury Rivas were selected to the Florida State League All Star Team, joining coach Mike Guerrero.
No Brewer farmhands were named to the Southern League All Stars. I was really hoping a Star would win Best Hustler.
With Efrain Nieves heading out to represent Puerto Rico in the International Baseball Federation tournament, long time BCB favorite Maverick Lasker started last night for Wisconsin, and pitched seven shutout innings in his A-ball debut.

WhatifSports moved the Brewers up three spots to 16th.
The Hardball Times has the Brewers at 19th.
The Sporting News has the Crew at 17th.
Jon Heyman listed the Brewers as this season's sixth biggest disappointment.
Sweeping the Pirates moved the Brewers from 12th to 14th in Andy Seiler's projected 2010 draft order.

Dodgers:

acquired Jon Garland

infielder Tony Abreu

placed Guillermo Mota on the DL

will lose about $12 million this season

concession-area fruit stands

C. Trent Rosecrans

Kevin Orie

Haeger Ineffective But Dodgers Still Roll

Brendan Scolari — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 01:36:08 -0000

More photos » by Al Behrman - AP

3 months ago: Los Angeles Dodgers' Matt Kemp, left, and Orlando Hudson celebrate after the Dodgers defeated the Cincinnati Reds 11-4 in a baseball game, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2009, in Cincinnati. Kemp and Hudson both hit home runs in the game. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)

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Charlie Haeger wasn't very good today, allowing 4 runs and 2 homeruns in 2.1 innings, but the Dodgers crushed the Reds 11-4 regardless. The Dodgers scored two runs in the first on a Manny Ramirez two run shot. Then in the second inning the Dodgers had three singles and a sacrifice fly to tack on two more runs. But in the bottom of the third inning Haeger allowed a walk, two homers, a single, and a double to tie the score 4-4 before being replaced by Jeff Weaver.

Weaver was hittable, allowing six hits in 3.1 innings, but didn't allow any runs and had four strikeouts. He also managed to get out of a bases loaded nobody out jam in the 5th by getting a forceout at home, a popout, and a strikeout. He also loeaded the bases with two outs in the 6th and Ramon Troncoso came on and got the last out.

Rafael Furcal broke the tie in the 5th inning with an opposite field solo homerun down the right field line, but the bats really exploded in the 7th inning. Andre Ethier started the inning off with a double and then got to third after the Reds threw away a bunt single by Furcal. Both of them scored on a line drive single by Juan Pierre to center field. Manny Ramirez walked on six pitches and then Matt Kemp hit a bomb to right center on the first pitch before Dusty baker finally replaced reliever Carlos Fisher. James Loney then walked before Mark Loretta hit into a double play. But before the inning was finished Orlando hudson added another homerun to left center field to give the Dodgers an 11-4 lead.

The Reds didn't pose much of a threat after the 6th, Dodger relievers Ronald Belisario and Guillermo Mota faced just one batter over the minimum. The win pushed the Dodgers 4.5 games ahead of the Rockies and 6.5 games ahead of the Giants in the NL West.

Tomorrow is the rubber match of the three game series, with Clayton Kershaw (8-7) facing off against Bronson Arroyo (11-12) at 10:10 AM. Also for all you Raider fans out there, the Raiders looked hideously bad today, getting destroyed 45-7 by the New Orleans Saints.

W - Jeff Weaver (6-4): 3.1 IP, 6 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts

L - Matt Maloney (0-3): 6 IP, 8 hits, 5 runs, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts

SB Nation - Guillermo Mota

Dodgers Face Tuesday Decisions For Hudson, Wolf, Others

Orlando Hudson

Randy Wolf

Ronnie Belliard

Vicente Padilla

Jon Garland

Guillermo Mota

Will Ohman

Take the Braves out of the running for these free agents

A Look Toward 2010: The Pitching

Starters

Bullpen

Dodger Roster Breakdown

Free Agents (13+1)

Options (2)

Arbitration Eligible (9)

Under Contract (4)

Under Team Control (15)

Dodgers Season In Thirds

Catcher

Infield

Outfield

Pinch Hitters

Starting Pitchers

Relievers

The Dodgers & Their Postseason Roster

Dodgers Week 24 In Review: Finish Line In Sight

Week 24 Stats

Giant Bats Batter the Dodgers

Tuesday's Frosty Mug

Haeger Ineffective But Dodgers Still Roll