Doyers Thread

[Villain]

If you study that list closely enough, you'll see every other Dodgers hitter.

 

[Hasselbeck]

If you study that list closely enough, you'll see every other Dodgers hitter.

Yeah as a Matt Kemp fake team owner/fanboy .. I am well aware of the Doyers struggles on offense right now.

 

[Villain]

Yeah as a Matt Kemp fake team owner/fanboy .. I am well aware of the Doyers struggles on offense right now.

Just remember that the Dodgers are getting men on base. The RBIs will come.

 

[Villain]

Jackie Robinson Day = Vin Scully gold:

http://www.truebluela.com/2013/4/16/4231070/vin-scully-branch-rickey-video

Click above link for a video.

One of the great things about having Vin Scully as an announcer is his unique ability to tell firsthand stories of some of the great moments in both Dodgers and baseball history, the benefit of 64 years behind the microphone. On Jackie Robinson Night on Monday, Scully during the Prime Ticket broadcast reflected on interviewing for his job with Branch Rickey.

The story was gold:

"It was a big day, Jackie Robinson singing with the Brooklyn Dodgers and Branch Rickey, which reminds us to compliment Harrison Ford, who did a terrific job as Branch Rickey. I can say that because I interviewed for the job scared to death sitting on the other side of the desk looking at Mr. Rickey, wondering what he was going to ask me and how it was going to go.

"He wound up the discussion by asking me questions The questions were, 'Are you married?'

"No sir.

'Are you engaged?'

"No sir.

'Are you going steady?'

"Then he lit that little cigar, and said 'Get a girl, go steady, get engaged, and get married.' Yes sir. It scared me to death, but he was right."

 

[Villain]

MSTI

Why Can’t Money Hit the Ball?
Posted on April 17, 2013 by Mike Petriello

As we continue what now appears to be a daily series of “what fans think is wrong with the Dodgers,” let’s move away from Dodger blue and into big, stinky Guggenheim green. Yes, for as many people asking for Dee Gordon & Yasiel Puig to come up, there’s a nearly equal amount attempting to point out — whether in disgust or joy — that a team with a $230 million payroll has some holes in it.

While frustration is understandable, it is of course ludicrous to expect that any team, no matter how expensive, is going to win all 162 games. With 93% of the season remaining, the Dodgers are at 7-7, just two games behind the Giants. (Yes, you heard me. The Rockies are 10-4, and they’re not for real. Mark it.) That’s with the handicap of losing their starting shortstop and #2 pitcher, so you’ll excuse me if I’m not ready to raise the white flag yet with a team that doesn’t even have a losing record.

Name wOBA $
Gonzalez .438 $21m
Crawford .436 $20m
A.Ellis .358 $2m
Ethier .337 $13.5m
M.Ellis .283 $5.25m
Sellers .244 494k
Kemp .215 $22m
Cruz .089 505k​

Besides, if this is really about money, let’s look at the regular roster and see which group of salaries is lagging behind, shall we?

Check out the chart at right. Adrian Gonzalez & Carl Crawford, making a combined $41 million this year, are more than pulling their weight. A.J. Ellis is off to a fine start as well; Andre Ethier is somewhat behind his career norms, yet still safely above the current NL average for non-pitchers, which is .324.

It’s the second half of the chart that’s the problem, though Mark Ellis has long been expected to contribute far more on defense than on offense. What you have here is two of the three lowest-paid players doing the worst, while two of the three highest-paid players doing the best — and Justin Sellers is only in the discussion because Hanley Ramirez injured his thumb, a situation which will be rectified in the next few weeks. That seems like basically the scenario you’d expect.

We could do the same for the pitching staff, but the rotation is generally both well-paid and productive, with Chris Capuano‘s injury-shortened bomb last night being the first truly awful outing of the year. (And not only was he in a tough spot having sat in the bullpen for weeks, he was deemed not good enough to make the rotation in the first place, pitching only due to the crimes of Carlos Quentin.)

What this really comes down to are the same two things we’ve been talking about for a while. First, Matt Kemp is off to an atrocious start, and second, Luis Cruz has been awful. Kemp’s struggles have been beyond frustrating, and it seems likely that he’ll get the night off tonight to give him two days free before the team heads to Baltimore (!) to begin an east coast trip. I can’t say I know the answer to what his problem is — though I’ll note, again, how serious his shoulder surgery was and how foolish it was that he continued playing for a full month after being hurt last year — but there’s little we can do other than give him time to work it out. No, you can’t demote him to Triple-A — and yes, that’s a real suggestion I’ve heard, which is insane even if the team could legally do it, which they can’t — and if you must drop him in the lineup that’s fine, but it’s unlikely to have much impact. Whatever Kemp’s problem is, it’s not something related to his wallet.

As for Cruz, well, we’ve spent more than enough time talking about him. He was stuck in the minors for more than a decade for a reason, after all; the Dodgers gave him a chance, and it hasn’t worked out. Even then, I’m not sure what the team could reasonably have expected to do, given the market last winter. Did you really want Kevin Youkilis? Yunel Escobar? To give every non-Puig prospect on the farm for Chase Headley? It’s one thing to have money, and it’s quite another to have a viable option to spend it on.

I know we’re all frustrated by how this season has started off, but it’s really not about how much money was spent. So far, the expensive players have produced — other than Kemp — and the cheaper placeholders haven’t. The offense is still getting its share of players on base (8th best in MLB), so it’s really a matter of getting hits with men in scoring position. That, sadly, is not a tangible skill, inasmuch as a player is no more likely to get a hit with a man on than he is otherwise. It’ll even out. It has to, and simply getting Kemp right and either Sellers or Cruz replaced with Ramirez will go a long, long way towards that.

 

[Villain]

Start season with 9 starting pitchers. Trade one and then lose 3 to the DL in 10 days... //Dodgers


:kuzzy:

 

[Villain]

I've been in denial about this... Not really surprised now that it is a reality.

 

[Villain]

I believe this decision was made last night as they added Matt Magill to the 40-man roster mid-game and a call from Los Angeles took him out of a decent start down in AAA Albuquerque. He didn't know why until later when he was informed of his new status.

SP Depth Chart:
1. Kershaw
2. Ryu
3. Beckett
4. Lilly
5. Fife
------
6. Matt Magill (AAA)
7. Zach Lee (AA)

DL: Zack Grienke (broken collar bone), Chris Capuano (calf strain), Chad Billingsley (Tommy John, out for year)

 

[Villain]

Of course, Chris Capuano's calf strain was from the Greinke/Quentin fight.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-b...ry-during-greinke-quentin-155050588--mlb.html

 

[Villain]

 

[Villain]

You know this is the date Hanley is hoping to return:

 

[Villain]

#RooNotReeYoo

HadouKKKKKKKen

 

[Villain]

 

[Villain]

[youtube]-zEFsxfdBFo[/youtube]

 

[Villain]

Welp. Mark Ellis hurt his leg again. Great blurb from MSTI:

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).

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.

 

[Villain]

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.

:harbaugh:

Time to update:

SP Depth Chart:
1. Kershaw
2. Ryu
3. Beckett
4. Lilly
5. Matt Magill
------
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).

 

[Villain]

 

[Villain]

Skip pitched the 9th inning last night: http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?c_id=la&content_id=26715037&partnerId=as_mlb_20130430_7569464

 

[Villain]

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.

 

[Goober]

Bump for discussion.

Is Matt Kemp worst CF of all time?