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You know this is the date Hanley is hoping to return:
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You know this is the date Hanley is hoping to return:
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#RooNotReeYoo
HadouKKKKKKKen[REDACTED]Comment
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Welp. Mark Ellis hurt his leg again. Great blurb from MSTI:
MRI today. I hope it's not serious because he's been fantastic this season. It's said to be a right quad strain, and those tend to take a long time to recover from.Stop me if you’ve heard this one before — Mark Ellis, off to a very good start to his season, hobbles off with a leg injury. I know, right? After all, Ellis missing time with leg trouble isn’t exactly an everyday occurrence, since it’s only happened in 2012 (46 days)… and 2011 (15 days)… and 2010 (39 days)… and 2009 (60 days)… and 2008 (11 days)… and 2007 (3 days).[REDACTED]Comment
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Another starting pitcher goes down. Fife has "shoulder bursitis" so Matt Magill, who was just added to the 40-man roster on Monday, will make his MLB debut at age 23. He's got a fastball with occasional movement that tops out at 94-95 and apparently a very good slider that he's able to command and get strikeouts. He's increased his K/9 every year in the minors including last season at AA Chattanooga, where he struck out 168 batters in 146 innings for a 10.3 K/9 (3.8 BB/9).
Stephen Fife is the 5th starting pitcher to have a stint on the DL this season.
.gif "Harbaugh")
Time to update:
SP Depth Chart:
1. Kershaw
2. Ryu
3. Beckett
4. Lilly
5. Matt Magill
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6. Zach Lee (AA)
7. Garrett Gould (AA)
DL: Zack Grienke (broken collar bone), Chris Capuano (calf strain), Chad Billingsley (Tommy John, out for year), Stephen Fife (shoulder bursitis)
Relief pitchers on the DL: Shawn Tolleson (Righty - back), Scott Elbert (Lefty - elbow).Last edited by Villain; 04-27-2013, 04:34 PM.[REDACTED]Comment
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Skip pitched the 9th inning last night: http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?c_...130430_7569464[REDACTED]Comment
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As expected, Hanley Ramirez made his first start last night - on his bobblehead night. In his second AB, he crushed a home run into the left field pavilion.[REDACTED]Comment
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Bump for discussion.
Is Matt Kemp worst CF of all time?
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May 20, 2013 - State of the Dodgers
17 wins, 25 losses. 5th Place in the NL West (7 games back)
Starting Rotation:
Good things
1. Clayton Kershaw. Not much to say here, one of the best in baseball. Best lefty starter in the NL. We're lucky to have him.
2. Zack Greinke. Before the injury that should never have happened, he was stellar. His work ethic and maybe the severity of the non-throwing clavicle fracture brought him back into the rotation way ahead of schedule. He looked great against the Harper-less Nationals in his return, but he admits he's at "Spring Training" shape. We'll see what happens, but I'm not too worried.
3. Hyun-Jin Ryu. In his first MLB season, I think he's been a success so far. Great velocity on his fastball, the change up and curve ball are also pretty nasty. His control has left him looking wild in some starts, but it's been pinpoint in others. He's also been a decent hitter, which I find to be hilarious.
Dodgers starters have the second-best FIP in the NL.
Bad Things
Injuries, and Josh Beckett. Beckett has made all but one good start, a complete game loss to the Diamondbacks. What a nightmare. Billingsley looked halfway decent in his first start, then it's Tommy John surgery. Ted Lilly was never supposed to start but he forced his way onto the MLB roster by refusing a rehab assignment and guess what? He wasn't completely healthy and when injuries forced him into the starting role, he was a disaster. Ted Lilly has no business being on a Major League roster. I hated his contract when he received it, and I hate it now that it's forcing us to keep him around. More injuries to the back of the rotation: Capuano spent time on the DL, even though he was never meant to have a starting spot in the first place, and even the minor league replacement Stephen Fife is on the DL with shoulder bursitis. 23 year old Matt Magill isn't major league ready and yet here he is starting for the team who had too many pitchers in Spring Training. He's been iffy at best and clearly-not-ready at worst. The strikeout-happy Braves made him look good over the weekend by playing to his strengths, but more patient lineups will crush him. It's mid-May and the Dodgers have already had more starters than they did over the entirety of 2012.
Beckett is on the DL for apparently a number of injuries that have been bugging him. Who knows if correcting those issues can correct his shitty pitching.
Outlook Going Forward
The effectiveness of the top three starters - Kershaw, Greinke, and Ryu - must not falter if this team is going to have any success over the rest of the season. Beckett has been terrible, but if optimism connects his ineffectiveness to injuries, then maybe he can turn it around to be a passable 4th starter. The fifth spot is going to be a black hole unless a roster shakeup happens. Capuano has looked great in his last two starts since the calf strain, so maybe he can do well to stay healthy and limit the awful 3 to 5 inning starts that have been occurring to an overworked bullpen. If he can't, then maybe Zach Lee is able to crack the rotation this summer and be a 5th guy or maybe he gets traded for someone who's going to get hurt and be terrible, like Jake Peavey.
Position Players:
Good things
1. Carl Crawford. He almost looks worthy of his stupidly huge contract. Here's hoping that things remain this way.
2. Adrian Gonzalez. He has been on of the best hitters in the NL this season despite not being able to turn his head without pain.
3. AJ Ellis. Still underrated.
4. Juan Uribe. I can't believe I typed that. He still has the best BB% in baseball for those with the more or the same amount of PA's.
5. Mark Ellis. He's been playing great defense and he's been effective at the plate. Now that he's been injured, that will unfortunately go away.
6. Nick Punto. Same as Mark Ellis, but replace injury with regression. His baBIP is somewhere in the stratosphere.
Bad Things
1. All players who've been on the left side of the infield not named Hanley Ramirez, Juan Uribe, or Nick Punto. Luis Cruz and Justin Sellers have never had a valid place on the major league roster. Dee Gordon is one of the worst hitters on the team and his defense is always an adventure in the way that running from a T-Rex in Jurassic Park is an adventure. Maybe Dee would do better if Mattingly didn't have him bunting every time, but that's never going to go away.
2. The lack of production from Kemp and Ethier. Mainly in the slugging department. They've both been hitting a little better (in the sense that some is better than none), but the power outage has been almost intolerable. It's frustrating to watch two guys who have good looking swings that look pretty as the ball goes right on into the catchers' mitt. You want guys like this to be feared hitters in the lineup and that's just not been the case. Here's hoping that this is just a slump and not the new normal.
3. Injuries. Maybe this should be made into a singular. Jerry Hairston Jr. has been a decent backup, but that's all he is. Most important has been the hole that is left when Hanley Ramirez isn't in the lineup. I'm of the opinion (because of course I am) that Hanley is on the verge of returning to being an offensive star, even if his defense is terrible. We need him back, badly. The Dodgers need someone other than Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez to be a spark plug.
Outlook Going Forward
While they Dodgers have generated the second-fewest runs in baseball, they have been doing a good job at getting on base, taking walks, and not striking out too much. The issue can be simply related to a lack of power. If Kemp and Ethier can go back to hitting home runs while the other regular hitters continue what they're doing, then I think the Dodgers offense will be in good shape. If the slugging does not increase, then it's optimistic to expect a new face in the General Managers' chair.
Bullpen:
Good things
1. Kenley Jansen. Outside of being roughed up in Atlanta, he's been solid.
2. Paco Rodriguez. Same as Jansen. A huge surprise from a player who would normally be in the minors at this stage in his career. 12 months ago, he was still pitching for the University of Florida.
Bad things
1. Everyone else. League has been a disaster. Belisario has been hot and cold, but mostly cold. The Dodgers have the second worst bullpen in the National League.
2. The bullpen has been overworked. Wouldn't it be nice if this was the cause of why the bullpen has been so bad? All you'd need is starters to go deeper into the game and viola! Everyone is effective again. I seriously doubt that, but it's nice to dream about. The only thing worse than going to your bullpen early is going to your bullpen early when you have a shitty bullpen. It's bad.
Outlook Going Forward
Not good. League will be around for awhile. There are not very many guys in the minors who look to be ready to crack the 25-man, and Ted Lilly will be back soon in what I hope is purely mop-up duty. The arms you see don't look to be replaced soon, so this is the nightmare for the rest of the year. Once the starter leaves, the worrying begins. If this team's run production doesn't increase soon, things are only going to get worse.[REDACTED]Comment
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Matt Kemp has been worth negative 1 win per FanGraphs so far.
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