Ladies and gentlemen, of all relievers the Dodgers send down... Hong Chi Kuo

There were two Dodger relievers who were recently struggling with control issues. The media seemed to focus on Lance Carter (and his Bradenton tapes), while the wildness of Hong Chi Kuo was mostly taking a low profile.

After yesterday's ninth-inning meltdown at the Padres, when Carter allowed three batters to reach base, without getting anybody out, some roster moves had to be made. Straight after the game GM Ned Colletti announced that indeed a player was brought up from Triple-A Vegas. It's a LHP Joe Beimel, another former Tampa Bay D-Ray in the Dodger organization.

The most surprising part of this move though is that we sent down LHP Kuo, rather than Carter. Citing the lack of minor league options for the latter (do you think any team would have taken him after what we've seen so far??), Colletti and Little allowed Carter to get back on track in LA. At the same time, the Carter situation is "still a topic of discussion" as claimed by our management.

I don't understand this. The only consolation for now is the excellent piece by Jon Wiesman where he claims that Carter's bad karma must change:

"As unimpressed as I've been by Carter, I don't think he's as bad
as he's shown himself this month. But that's not good enough,
not with Jonathan Broxton sizzling in Las Vegas.
I'd rather take my chances on Broxton's major league control
problems to get his strikeout pitch than see Carter's
dejected face after another poor outing. That's the next move
that has to be made. "

As I wrote earlier, I agree with John on this. Unfortunately our voices were not heard in the midst of the final innings pandemonium at Petco Field in San Diego...

Game 25: Dodgers @ San Diego Padres 5:6 (10 innings)

Before anything else - I feel so sorry for Derek Lowe. 5-0 up in the top of the 9th and not enough to get him a W :(.

Mark my words: this is the first and only time this season that we gave up such a big lead in the ninth. I don't know why, but I'm sure our guys will draw appropriate conclusions out of this. It's not over until it's over - we forgot it, putting the ball casually in play for the easy outs since the seventh inning. It stung us in the ass big time...

(from here on you will find the regular report written *during* the game)

Amazing how many Dodger fans were cheering in Petco during the fifth inning LA rally. On TV it felt almost like Chavez Ravine :). Regarding that fifth - I was full of good thoughts with Furcal at third and Lofton at second, even when Drew struck out and Kent lined out (unbeliveable reflexes by Padres shortstop Khalil Greene!). It seemed like it was only the question of time that we'll get to Chan Ho Park. Nomar keeps amazing me - still swinging at first pitches, but with excellent results the last couple of days.

All right, let's see what caught my eye:

(1) Petco and the Dodger fans - you could not tell which was the home team until that Padre rally in the ninth. Is it always like this when the Dodgers are in town?

(2) Derek Lowe's amazing sinker away to left-handed batters has made a miraculous comeback. Unhittable. The Padre announcers did everything the could to jinx Lowe's no-hitter through four innings, but no-no or not, Lowe was in full control most of the time.

(3) Bill Mueller's homerun stroke is back. High time - the Dodgers seem to be in the bottom half of the NL in terms of HR.

(4) Bringing in Lance Carter in the top of the ninth with a 5-0 run lead. Good move. Let the guy get some confidence, let's see if this tape watching thing worked. Keeping Lance in the game after two batters reached? Bad move. Little should have pulled him after two batters in order not to get to a bases-loaded none out jam.

(5) The Franquelis Osoria Watch: 2.0 IP, 1H, 0 ER, 2K, ERA down to 3.77.

(6) Tomorrow we start a quick two-game set in Arizona. Brad Penny takes on RHP Claudio Vargas. We need anything close to a complete game - throw strikes, Brad! The exhausted walk-prone bullpen needs rest...

Ease Gagne in, will you?

Eric Gagne is making steady progress coming back from the elbow injury that kept him out since the Spring Training. Skipper Grady Little has this to say about the Gagne's role, when he's back - at this point three to four weeks away from now:

"He's the closer for this ballclub,"
Little said of Gagne, but
he added that there's a strong
possibility the role will be
shared, initially, when Gagne
returns.

If the decision on Gagne was mine to take, I would not jinx what Saito and Baez are doing at the moment. I'd ease Eric into his target closer role by making him a regular seventh inning guy for let's say two weeks. While the pressure will still be high (even though he'd exchange the "SV"s for the "H"s), Gagne might feel less strained psychologically. This would allow giving him some exposure to games on the line, but not the proverbial "last three outs" that certain games would have depended upon in that span.

This would be a win-win situation and, due obviously to Gagne's position on the club and his salary, it does not have to last for the whole season. Over time, with proven Eric, we could slip the current duo down an inning and reinstate Gagne as the closer. Makes sense?

Game 24: Dodgers @ San Diego Padres 4:2

Well well well, to get two such pitching performances in a row from our No 4 and 5 starters - who would have thought :). It's almost unfair the Dodgers are starting Derek Lowe this afternoon to complete the series sweep. Doable? Very much so.

My take on the Dodger World today?:

(1) Between Furcal, Kent and Cruz - the three hit-free amigos - the LF issue is the easiest to take care of. Just play Jason Repko more regularly at LF (as someone already advised) and move Ricky Ledee up a notch as a PH. While there is some uneasiness about the lineup changes

The Dodgers lineup might have a different look on Sunday,
as several players are slumping. Rafael Furcal is 1-for-22,
Jose Cruz Jr. is 3-for-39 and Jeff Kent is 3-for-29.

but I think Grady will leave things as they are with Raffy and Jeff. Taking moo much risk regarding the prolonged nagging injuries of Furcal. I would have DLed him for precautionary reasons if nothing else, but then again, it's just me.

(2) Half-full or half-empty? Well, as I speak Brett Tomko is tied with Odalis Perez as the winningest SP on our roster (3-1). Not that it's going to last too long, but it's nice to know that Tomko is starting to go deeper into the games (7.0 IP last night) with some cute damage control.

(3) Seems like we might have a 1-2 setup-closer punch as reliable as any team in the NL. Takeshi Saito and Danys Baez have at least one thing in common - none of the NL-only scouts saw them coming before they entered the scene this year with the Dodgers. Our superb duo is taking the league by surprise!

(4) The Dodgers are hosted by Chan Ho Park and the Padres in the series finale in a couple of hours (1:05 PT). Is Chan Ho capable of stopping his former team with virtually no offense? I hope not. Riding a three-game winning streak in the light of two games at Arizona and two more at Chavez Ravine against SD would be just sweet.

Aaron Sele getting restless

Owner of the best record among starting pitchers in Triple-A Vegas (3-0 with a 2.92 ERA), veteran Aaron Sele is apparently getting tired of the Nevada chips, black-jacks and roulettes. He wants to get back to the majors (and Dodgers) as soon as possible.

It's not necessarily the viewpoint shared by GM Ned Colletti:

"He's a little impatient," Colletti said
of Sele. "We have to come to some
crossroad soon."

Well, luckily for the Dodgers, and perhaps less luckily for the future fate of Sele, at least for now, our fifth starter - Jae Seo, woke up from slumber to pitch 6.0 innings of 2-hit ball Friday against the Padres. Doing this he basically took away Sele's chance to spell the starter at the back-end of the rotation, as Seo and Sele's pitching styles are quite similar (as are their names).

At this point, the crossroad that Colletti spoke about, seems at least a couple of turns away for Sele. Which might not be good news when you're 36...

Photo: [www.mlbcards.com]

Game 23: Dodgers @ San Diego Padres 3:0

That was the first Padre game I saw this season, and boy did they look lost at the plate. Plus, especially in the first three innings, Jae Seo was NOT getting the call from Dale Scott on the pitches off the outside edge. The combined no-hit three innings by Hamulack, Saito and Baez were not threatened at any point (combined 24 pitches to close out the final three innings, great!)

Some red-eye observations:

(1) At this point keeping Rafael Furcal *off* the DL is more risky to his long-time health and shape than letting him play through pain. Especially that obviously the latter doesn't help him shake the pain off. Tonight he grimaced in pain even taking the batting gloves off after the third. I would highly recommend placing Raffy on the DL in order to stop deteriorating his current condition.

(2) We could go with Repko/Lofton and Jose Cruz jr at the top of the lineup in the meantime and not lose a step offensively.

(3) What do you think about the Petco Park in San Diego, CA? On TV it seemed smallish and somehow constrained. Has anyone of us here visited Petco? What's your impression?

(4) This could be as good time as ever to get our first three (or more) winning streak going (which would give us a sweep of the Padres). Tomorrow we throw Brett Tomko against unknown-to-me Clay Hensley, so there's every reason to believe, we can come out winning.

This report is shorter then usual, partly because almost everything (barring Raffy's health status) clicked tonight. But I'm willing to trim the game reports off bit by bit with every shutout win we get along the way this season :).

Two of my favourite Dodgers...

...get some media spotlight, and quite deservedly so.

Jason Repko shares how he learns about base-stealing from Maury Wills and Kenny Lofton. So far, seems like he's been an avid learner :). Best thing? Grady Little is keen on keeping giving Repko green light when he's at first:

"When I know I have the read,
I'll go," Repko said. "And so it's
a lot easier than being held down
and then being told to go.
It's hard to do it that way."

On the other hand (same article by Allison Ann Otto), Franquelis Osoria seems to be over the hump, according to pitching coach Rick Honeycutt. Sinker and slider location proves to be the key to getting his confidence back and his ERA down.

Photos: [www.mlbplayers.com] for Repko, and [www.ocregister.com] for Osoria.

Furcal listed as questionable for tonight

According to the report by Associated Press, Rafael Furcal is questionable for tonight's series opener at San Diego Padres. Should he not play, do we go with Lofton-Mueller-Drew at the top of the lineup?

Game 22: Dodgers @ Houston Astros 5:8

Tell you what - if we have to lose game, I'd rather we lost like this without a shadow of doubt, than lose an extra-inning edge-of-my-seat affair. You can explain the former by a daily dose of (un)luck and let the day go by with "tomorrow is another day". This is what I choose to do, anyway, folks :)

While I'm at it, let me ramble on:

(1) There's sufficient evidence available that Jason Repko is the most versatile Dodger at the moment. Last night he batted lead-off and went 2-for-4, with a HR, 2 RBI and two runs scored while playing CF. He's currently hitting .333. The most difficult task for the coaching staff is how to find a place for him in the lineup. I say - start him every three of five games (spelling Cruz, Lofton and Drew once each at every outfield position) and pinch-hit him in the fourth game. There's got to be a way to give Repko regular at-bats - he's way too valuable at the moment to ride the pine.

(2) If the two-day "rest-Raffy" experiment proves to fail, I would seriously consider letting Rafael Furcal heal whatever's been bothering him (left ring finger, right shoulder and back). Be it injuries or pressing too much, he simply needs time off to get his offensive and defensive game back. I'd love to see a simulation of what Robles would have done at SS, had he been given similar number of at bats (barring Robles's speed, which is nowhere near Furcal's).

(3) Houston Astros might be the most difficult NL team to contain for Odalis Perez. What was I thinking - why would he get out of the career-long slump against them just last night? ;). On the other hand - we were right yesterday about the Astros bullpen: the only guy our hitters got to was Astacio. Qualls and Wheeler were well rested.

(4) Same link as above will take you to a comments section on Brett Tomko's playful art. Apparently, he's making a name for himself as a drawing artist (is this a right phrase? I've been working too hard today ;)).

(5) Thanks, but no thanks: the call-up of Russell Martin is not imminent.

(6) The Franquelis Osoria Watch: 2 1/3 IP, 2H, 1ER, 0BB, 4K to get his ERA to season-low 4.38. And crusing.

Play, pause, rewind, play...

At least he's doing something about it :). Lance Carter, the recently shaky veteran middle-reliever has acted on what we here and others found equally puzzling: sudden power and control outage:

"Lance Carter called his father in Bradenton, Fla.,
with an urgent message.
Drive to his house and grab the videotapes,
the ones of Carter's 26 saves in 2003 and
his solid relief work for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays
the last two years. Package them up and send them
to Los Angeles. When the Dodgers return from
their three-city trip, the tapes will be waiting
for pitching coach Rick Honeycutt and bullpen
coach Dan Warthen to review."

I admire the guy, you know. He's getting his act together - between him and Rick, they'll find a way. I would not be surprised if come June, Carter had a very decent shot again at becoming the primary seventh-inning guy.

Game 21: Dodgers @ Houston Astros 3:4 (14 innings)

If I could have followed the game online on mlb.tv (which I was unable to), I would have gotten up and left for work by the time the guys finished their night off last night :). Too bad we lost, but then again, this team proved something to me: they were able to match a very decent Astro team almost run for run and hit for hit throughout fourteen innings.

I am not sure I quite understand John Weisman's argument over at Baseball Toaster (section entitled: "Here's Where the Typical Eugene O'Neill Reference Would Go"). Please go and read it yourself and then come back and help me get this right: How would it have changed the outcome of the game If Grady started the extra innings with the best reliever (Baez) in the descending order (Baez-Kuo-Osoria-Carter, I understand)? We only lost by a run in the bottom of the 14th (being on the road), so what's the point? John, if you (ever) read this - can you elaborate?

One way or another, here's my daily brainstorm:

(1) We made some serious inroads into the Astro bullpen. Due to their starter, Nieve, leaving early, seven Houston relievers played out the remaining 9 1/3 innings. Apart from Springer and Qualls (1/3 and 2/3 respectively) they might be less rested than our bullpen tonight. We used five relievers (all except for Baez) for combined 7 innings, due to another quality start by Brad Penny.

(2) The day after his game-winning GSHR, Nomar Garciaparra went 0-for-6 and left 7 runners on base. What's even more important - he's playing with pain .

"It would seem Garciaparra is feeling strong, but he actually is just
living with the pain. "It's not a matter of feeling strong," Garciaparra said.
"It's more a matter of minimizing the pain. It's OK.
It's nothing out of the ordinary."

(3) Wow, in a matter of just a couple of days Kenny Lofton raised his BA to .306. Last time I checked, he was 1-for-11, but picked up the slack, also due to last night's 4-for-6 and a walk.

(4) The Franquelis Osoria Watch: 2.0 IP, 3H, 0 ER, 1 BB. The Franquleagle has landed :) As promised, Osoria's ERA went down to 4.50 after game 21 (I missed it by one game, big deal!). Call me Da Wiz ;).

(5) Tonight is the battle of the undefeated lefties: our Odalis Perez vs Mr. Rodriguez of the Astros. I think Litlle might give JD a game off, so it would be nice if Jeff Kent and especially Raffy Furcal found their hitting stroke early. If only to take advantage of the somewhat depleted Houston bullpen and take the series...

(6) Btw, can't wait to SEE the Dodgers again! Saturday morning @San Diego. I'll be (online) there :).

Game 20: Dodgers at Houston Astros 6:2

I love the way USA Today puts it in the very first line of their wrap-up: "Nomar Garciaparra was just looking to make contact against Brad Lidge in the ninth inning.". Boy, did he make it:). Being away from home on business I was not able to see the game, but I guess there was a lot of late-game positive drama involved. Also a great pitching duel from Pettite and Lowe.

Just a couple of game thoughts today:

(1) As Jon at www.dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com puts it, "Nomar Garciaparra will be the cover boy Tuesday with his game-winning grand slam and deservedly so. [...] But how about J.D. Drew?"

J.D. certainly set the table with the game-tying HR in the seventh, and then ran the count full from 0-and-2 and walked in the ninth to be followed by another one by Jeff Kent and the big splash by Nomah. He's not always the most visible Dodger, Drew is, but he's one of the most reliable when the game's on the line (I'm torn between J.D. and Bill Mueller if I'm to name my designated last-at-bat hitter in a close game).

(2) Something must be done, and quickly, to the OBP of our lead-off hitter Rafael Furcal. .215 just does not make the cut. What would you do?

(3) In case you wondered, yes, I have noticed that Lance Carter has *not* been getting anybody out lately. To bring back good luck, I'm declining to comment on it unless he gets his third straight game without anybody retired.

(4) Off-game: Cody Ross traded to the Cincinnati Reds for a player to be named later.

As http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/sports/pros/dodgers/article_1116925.php puts it: "The teams will negotiate a list of minor-leaguers from which the Dodgers will be able to choose a player by June 1. That player is not likely to be more than a mid-level prospect. Colletti said he was never offered anything that would translate into immediate help for the Dodgers for Ross."

Let me pose a quickie. What's your opinion:

a) it's good - at least they got a PTBNL for him
b) it's bad - they only got a PTBNL for him
c) it's foolish - all that fuss to call up Robles to go 0-fer? (you know what I mean)

You right - I went for c).

(5) This afternoon our major asset, RHP Brad Penny, looks to keep his stock up against Astros rookie RHP Fernando Nieve. On paper - almost automatic. However, it's baseball. If only I could sleep with my fingers crossed. C'mon fingers, stay crossed! ;)

Game 19: Dodgers vs Arizona D-backs 6:4

Much closer at the end that it should have been. Another good move by Grady Little bringing in Danys Baez in the eight inning with runners on base. I'm happy that Grady has as much confidence in Baez as most of us here.

Right, let's see what's brewing:

(1) BrettTomko was throwing regular heat yesterday (91-93 mph) with pretty good results. Maybe he's over the hill this year? Or perhaps getting rid of his counterpart Russ Ortiz helped boost his confidence. Tomko was also more than adequate at the plate, moving runner(s) over with bunts.

(2) I just learned after the game that the Dodgers now have 20 stolen bases, which leads the league. Last year, they stole only 58 for the entire season, and were second-worst in the league. I must say I like those running shoes we have put on recently :).

(3) Reports of the Cody Ross to Reds trade are still unconfirmed. No mention of whoever might be going the other way.

(4) This afternoon Derek Lowe squares off against Andy Pettite in the duel of former AL East foes. Pettite has not been great this season, so if Lowe can keep the ground balls coming to our infielders (watch that left-field wall!), we should hit our way to victory :).

Cody a Red?

According to at least two unnamed sources (yeah, I hate these too, but wanted to report some Ross traffic anyway) the Dodgers are in the Cody Ross trade talks with Cincinnati Reds. No information is available in regard to who might be going the other way.

Anyhow, the Dodgers are running out of time with the assignment.


Photo: [www.capitate.co.uk]

Game 18: Dodgers vs Arizona D-backs 4:5

I admit the flu got better of me and I slept firmly through the first five innings. But before dozing off I spotted something in the Jae Seo delivery, that worried me a bit:

(1) Is Seo's overhead delivery (with nobody on first) becoming predictable to the opposing batters? You can practically count to three as he breaks his hands and he would deliver exactly the same motion. Now, I don't have any conclusive evidence regarding Seo's pitch speeds differences on fastball and offspeed pitches. But if he's constantly registering something between 86-92 mph, with the predictable delivery, he's becoming more and more hittable (as witnessed last night).

(2) According to Grady Little, it does not jeopardize Seo's position in the rotation so far:

When asked whether Seo's outing represented a threat to his spot
in the rotation, Little said, "This guy knows how to pitch. He's got
a lot of good history. He'll just have to be better next time,
with good control."

(3) I am not going to repeat the noticeable stats, but apart from anything else, Nomar *looked* good in his first game in the Dodgers uniform. Also quite dependable at first defensively. In the later innings (I missed the first half) he kinda looked cool in the "wrong" place of the infield, don't you think? Very promising start - keep it going, Nomah!

(4) The Franquelis Osoria Watch - 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2BB, 1K. Current ERA progress: down to 5.63 ERA. ETA - on schedule :).

(5) I missed it: Kent and Gonzalez getting HBPed. Retaliation by Hamulack again? He was NOT thrown out of the game, that I know.

(6) Sunday afternoon: Brett Tomko defies the odds takes the ball to WIN against long-time Giant Russ Ortiz in the rubber game of the series.

The parting words of James Loney (for the time being)

With the today's call-up of Nomar Garciaparra from his rehab assignment in Triple-A Las Vegas, James Loney (a.k.a J-Lo) is headed in the opposite direction.

While I cannot readily locate the exact link to his parting words before boarding the bus to Nevada, James did say something to the line of: "It's been good to know that I belong here (Dodgers)".

Truly, the 21-year old is the future of the franchise at 1B. At the moment though, he needs to work on his hitting, patience and overall pitch selection. In the words of skipper Grady Little:

"I see a kid that got a good opportunity here for a couple weeks.
He's made a good showing, but he still needs to continue to try
to get better, and that takes time. I think what will dictate
this kid's future is going to be what he does with that bat."

Photo [www.ladailynews.com]: J'Lo doubles a run home yesterday against the Diamondbacks.

Games 1-16: Studs and duds round-up

I decided to do the round-ups in circa 15 game spans. Mostly, due to two facts:

a) ca fifteen games will mean three times through the rotation (disregarding for the sake of this summary ocassional days off and/or pitchers being moved a day forward, for instance). Hence, the starting pitchers will have almost equal chance in comparison to one another. Barring injuries and substitutions, but that's a factor I cannot account for in my simple observation.

b) ca fifteen games will very often mean four or five series in a row, hence tracing patterns against same teams' pitchers and hitters. From time to time I will prolong the assessment period to get the final game of a given series in.

Now, how will we evaluate players? There are several Dodger blogs out there that use the regular stats such as ERA/BB-to-K/.OBA and .BA/.SLG/.OPS to do the biz. Some are so good at this (just check out the guys at www.truebluela.com are doing with their Nickels), that there's no point to double the effort.

Based on my game reports I will use my subjective judgment (open for questioning) and hand out the prizes as I deem deservable. Let's see if you agree with game 1-15 winners in each category (if you don't, make sure you let me know :)) :

Starting pitcher stud:
Brad Penny (2-0 in four starts) - did not have a single bad game. Just unlucky to get three Ws of out three.

Starting pitcher dud:
Brett Tomko (1-1 in three starts) - taken deep six times in 17.0 IP, immediately bringing back the recollections of "Bombko".

Relief pitcher stud:
Takeshi Saito - untochable in seven appearances, easing himself into the set-up role with full confidence.

Relief pitcher dud:
None. Nobody blew it repeatedly.

Hitter stud:
Bill Mueller - unbelievably versatile, getting on himself, driving in guys (highest OBP for regulars), second best in RBI. Several key game-changing hits.

Photo on the right: former Red Sox Bill Mueller has had his hands full offensively and defensively. He's been the best overall Dodger in games 1-16.

Hitter dud:
Dioner Navarro - too many GIDPs and weak force-outs with two outs with men on. Rafael Furcal was not very convincing either, but he's explained due to playing hurt (jammed finger).

Fielder stud:
James Loney / Bill Mueller - dependable beyond age (the former) and beyond inexperience (the latter).

Fielder dud:
There were some unforced errors (Jason Repko, Dannys Baez, Furcal) but none of the responsible fielders stood out in a particularly bad way.

Managerial staff blooper:
Designating Cody Ross for assignment while bringing up Oscar Robles, for basically one game, that Jeff Kent was out. At the same time, the Dodgers had a little-used nominal 2b-3b Ramon Martinez on the bench. This blooper can only be taken back (in a next round-up) if Ross somehow clear waivers.

Series won: @ PHI,
Series lost: vs ATL, vs SF, vs CHC
Series tied: @PIT
Overall record after 16 games: 7-9 (3 rd NL West, 2.5 GB [Colorado]) .

Keeping an eye on those 51's

The Las Vegas 51's are tearing it up in the minors. They currently stand at 10-5 and have a number out outstanding prospects that really make a difference. Out of pitchers only: Chad Billingsley and Jonathan Broxton stand out as two most important prospects.

There are also promising hitters/fielders in the top tier of our minor league system. Some people are already looking forward to seeing Joel Guzman, Andre Ethier and Russell Martin don the white and blue. And from little I've read and seen - quite rightfully so.

I will try to keep an eye on our AAA Vegas team throughout the season. To this end, I got myself a copy of their current roster with stats. Impressive!

Game 17: Dodgers vs Arizona D-backs 6:3

Was this a 2-hour valium commercial, or something? Let's see:

"Valium (diazepam) is used to relieve anxiety, nervousness,
and tension associated with anxiety disorders. It is also
used to treat certain types of seizure disorders
and muscle spasms".

Talk about anxiety disorder ("yeah, I get a lot of it lately, doctor") and muscle spasms ("don't remember since when, probably since the start of the ballgame, doctor"). What a cracker! Never felt comfortable for a single moment when we kept leaving runners on base and Arizona kept putting their men on and inching closer. Oh but for the popped up squeeze bunt by Perez in the bottom of the second with runners at the corners and one out. A productive bunt would have given us some more breathing space.

Here's what I liked about tonight's series opener:

(1) Running quite freely on the Diamondback catcher Snyder to return the favor (stolen bases by Lofton x2, Repko).

(2) What a nice way to break out of the early season slump for Raffy Furcal. RBI double with two out scoring Repko from second to give us a 4:2 cushion. Took the lifetime to foul off and take the offspeed pitches and then drilled the first fastball to the wall in left-center.

(3) Every starter but Jose Cruz jr got at least one hit. Altogether we pounded out 11 of them, including some extra-base hits. Coming out of the short team hitting slump? I certainly hope so. Let's just say that the "play four-sit one" modus operandi that Grady Little designed for J.D. Drew has been working nicely so far.

(4) If this was James Loney (J-Lo's - I love that one! :)) last game before being sent down to AAA Vegas, due to Garciaparra's comeback, J-Lo certainly came out in style. 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI and some very adequate and indeed smooth defensive plays.

(5) What is going on with DFA'd Cody Ross? It's about a week now since the team's decision about the assignment, so he should be about to be traded, picked off waivers or sent to Vegas. Any news on Cody (preferably, the third option)?

(6) Tomorrow evening it's Jae Seo vs Danny Bautista. AFAIK, the first night game for Seo this season right?

Game 16: Dodgers vs Chicago Cubs 4:5

That one hurt. No, I'm serious - it did. I tuned into the game in the morning my time, just in time for the top of the eight melt-down by the Dodgers. And I thought we'd be crusing with a two-run lead and Dannys Baez taking the ball...

(1) I'm yet to see the play which resulted in Baez' error. Was it a tough unfortunate play or did he botch it all the way?

(2) We were outhit again - lack of production at the leadoff and 2nd spot positions is becoming more and more noticeable. Injured Furcal is hitting at the .230 clip, while apparently healthy Lofton is tinkering with the Mendoza line ;). I'd rather let Raffy heal his finger and play Robles at SS (the very reason we DFA'ed Ross). Lack of power from Robles compared to Furcal playing hurt would not make too much difference.

(3) When exactly is Nomah coming back? This offense needs a spark!

(4) Just as I predicted, Sandy Alomar, when inserted into the lineup, will get his share of hits and RBI. Man - 2-for-3 with an RBI and run scored and .478 BA. Brilliant, coach Little. Play him wisely, which means - more often.

(5) Day off today before the weekend series at Chavez Ravine against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Excellent opportunity for the first series sweep, don't you think? ;)

Game 15: Dodgers vs Chicago Cubs 2:1

What a cracker! The opposite of the previous Cubs game - this time Lowe and Saito combined for a one-run five-hit (was it five?) ballgame. Since I'm away on business, the game report will be shorter than usual:

(1) Is it me or do we have two automatic back-to-back outs in the lineup lately? I'm taking about James Loney and Dioner Navarro, hitting seventh and eight respectively. With the pitcher's spot next, seems like one third of our lineup is not producing offensively at any decent level. While Loney is destined for Vegas once Nomar comes off the DL, why not play Sandy Alomar somewhat more extensively in place of Navarro? Last time I checked, Alomar was ripping the cover off the ball...

(2) Which brings me to my second issue: what is wrong with the Dodgers battery NOT being able to catch anybody stealing? Last night it was Aramis Ramirez, of all speedsters, who pulled a stolen base of Lowe/Navarro! Is it Dioner's incompetence or high leg-kick motion by the pitcher(s) that helps the baserunner get a head start?

(3) We needed one more game than Little's minimum target (7-8 instead of 7-7) to get to seven wins on the season. No big deal, just wanted to report on the minimum goal being met.

(4) Brad Penny takes the ball in the rubber game of the series tonight against Cubs starter Marshall. I'm writing this offline and can't come up with the Marshall's first name: Ian? Naaah... Anyway, if Brad continues having his way with the splitter, we can take two out of three from Chicago.

The game 16 report will hit the net a little later than usual. Also, I will take some time over the weekend to summarize the pros and cons of the first five Dodger series this season.

Now, that explains everything :)

The widely enjoyable prose of John Hill over at the Dodger Hill offers this explanation as to why the Dodger hitting went south after the series in Pennsylvania:

"Grady Little announced that
due to any “oversight”
the Dodgers left their bats
in Pittsburgh. “It explains a lot,”
Little was quoted as saying.
He also stated that he hoped
that the hitting would improve
now that the team had something
to swing. Owner Frank McCourt
reportedly has fired the
equipment manager as well as all
the bat boys in response to
the debacle".
Photo: [www.fansedge.com]

Game 14: Dodgers vs Chicago Cubs 1:4

Well, did you also have that feeling that this one was in the Cubs' bag just as soon as Todd Walker hit that homerun in the first inning? Too bad it proved right with the way Greg Maddux was pitching for the Cubs last night... Quick, efficiently played ballgame, with the wrong result. That's what it was.

Things that cross my mind:

(1) Do you think poor hitting is becoming a trend lately? The last four games we scored only five runs altogether, while playing against much better pitching than in the PHI and PIT series. Out of the regulars only Bill Mueller is firing on all cylinders. At this point I would certainly regroup the lineup somewhat (assuming Kent is back within a couple of games and Garciaparra is coming off the DL by the weekend). How about:

SS Furcal
CF Repko
3B Mueller
2B Kent
RF Drew
LF Cruz
1B Garciaparra
C Navarro
P pitcher

Mueller would be moved up from the sixth spot, while I'd drop both Drew and Cruz down a notch. At this point I'm not willing to move Kent out of the clean-up spot yet.

(2) The mantra of the last couple of days was leaving too many men on base. Grady Little defends himself saying that at least we did get them on in the first place. I am not scared with Little's AL pedigree (a.k.a relying on the longball too much), because of some promising "little" ball I saw put together by our manager. What is the reason then for the hitting slump then?

(3) Franquelis Osoria watch: I claimed that Osoria's ERA will go down to lower than 5.00 ERA by game 20, if he's used on regular basis. After last night's contest in Game 14 (three scoreless and hitless innings with 3 KO's) Osoria's ERA is at 6.75 and going down. Good.

(4) Tonight is Derek Lowe night. He's squaring off against Carlos Zambrano at 7:10 p.m. PT. Lowe, Kuo and Baez combining on a five-hitter shutout? Heck, why not - anything to avoid a first three-game losing streak of the season.

Try as we might (on the designation for assignment of Cody Ross)

Prior (sic!) to tonight's game against the Cubs, the Dodgers designated young utility outfielder Cody Ross for assignment. Apparently due to the injury to Jeff Kent, Grady Little could not play Ramon Martinez at 2b for one or two games and we had to call up Oscar Robles, thus creating a need to release Ross.

I admit I hate that move for the time being. Especially that Kent is obviously not hurt seriously and will be coming back later this week.

The only way I can understand letting Ross go now is if Rafael Furcal's finger is bad enough to get him some rest very soon and then we'd need to go with both Martinez AND Robles this week. We'll see.

Anyway, Cody - it was a pleasure to get to know you! Good luck whenever you are. Try as we (Dodger fans) might, we could not keep you a Dodger for life, as you wanted...

Game 13: Dodgers vs San Francisco Giants 0:2

Let's hope games like these don't come back to haunt us later on during the season. Losing to a divisional rival (Giants, of all of them) means one more full game back(they won we lost at the same time).

A mid-afternoon West Coast game is the most difficult one for me to follow (mind you, I'm still some good nine hours ahead of LA timezone). They start at about 2:00 a.m. my time, so there's not enough time to sleep either before or after the game. I might be skipping most of these games altogether. Ok, I checked the schedule for the next four weeks - there don't seem to be too many of these, so I'll get my daily dose of coma ;).

Since, I was in no position to watch the game, why don't you provide the general overview for a change. Here's the list of bullet points that need to be answered:

(1) Did the Hennessey and Hamulack pitches really get away?

(2) I guess both Rafael Furcal (jammed finger) AND Jeff Kent (hit in the head) need a day (two?) off. With Ramon Martinez as the only utility infielder on the current roster, we can spell one starter, but not two, at the same game. Does it mean we'll be playing the Cubs tonight with one more automatic out (shaken-up Kent or one-handed Raffy)?

(3) How was Jae Seo doing last night? His stat line (6.0 IP, 6h, 2 ER, 3SO) suggests that he must have been pretty steady. Did he seem like he was gaining confidence, or were the Giants hitters unlucky?

(4) Let me take the first time the Dodgers were shut out as an opportunity to raise a perennial question: how much does this team need a power bat? If you think - "yeah, definitely", come up with some reasonable names for Ned to chase.

(5) We're starting a three-game set against the Cubs tonight. They will have neither Prior nor Wood available. The Dodgers start Brett Tomko tonight at 7:10 p.m. PT, while Chicago counters with 40-year old Greg Maddux. I pray Tomko (otherwise known as Bombko, lately) stays away from the longball.

On balls that got away

Please minors, pardon the pun. Just two quick quotes from pitchers that drilled the opposing star hitters. Says Brad Hennessey of the Giants, who plunked Jeff Kent on the head in the seventh:

"It was a changeup — I was trying to get ahead. It came out
of my hand early; my release point got screwed up.
You could see with the rest of my pitches that inning —
everything was coming out early."

Later on, in the top of the eigth, Tim Hamulack retaliated hitting Barry Bonds on the right forearm:

"The catcher set up outside, the ball got away from me,"
Hamulack said after he was thrown out of the game.
"But after what happened with Kent,the umpire thought
I was doing it purposely."

How inconvenient that these two particular balls got away while being pitched to respective stars on both teams.

Injury updates (quotes)

Just a handful of injury updates to start the Easter Monday with. I sincerely hope that we will not have to add Jeff Kent to this list. Kent was hit on his helmet yesterday by Giants starter Hannessey, but managed to walk off the field under his own power.

All quotes are taken from here:

Cesar Izturis said the stiffness he experienced last weekend in his
surgically repaired elbow will push back the start of a Minor League
rehabilitation assignment that originally was to begin in a week.
Izturis said the elbow has responded well since last weekend and
he is throwing without stiffness, but he will need to continue that
for 10 consecutive days before receiving clearance for game action.
That will probably push back his return to the Dodgers until June.

Come-back forecast: on pace (optimistic), up to a week behind schedule (pessimistic).

Rafael Furcal, who has played with a jammed middle finger
on his left hand suffered while stealing a base Opening Day, said
he grips a bat at 50 percent strength with that hand and it bothers
him mostly batting left-handed. Furcal said the middle knuckle is
still painful, but he has not had an X-ray taken.

Full recovery forecast: at some point they the team needs to take precautionary measures, as the jammed finger contusion has a lot do do with Raffy's poor start.

Reliever Yhency Brazoban will undergo Tommy John
elbow reconstruction Tuesday.

Come-backforecast: out for season, on pace for spring training next year.

First baseman Nomar Garciaparra will not be ready to return
from the disabled list when he's eligible Tuesday, but that it
would not be long after. Garciaparra, recovering from a
rib-cage strain, took 70 more swings in batting practice Sunday.
Little said a Minor League rehabilitation assignment is
a possibility.

Come-back forecast: next weekend?, a few days behind schedule.

Jayson Werth will be examined Monday by Dr. Noman Zemel,
who will attempt to determine why Werth still has extreme pain
in the wrist that Zemel surgically repaired in November. One theory
to be explored is that scar tissue might have grown into the joint.
Werth said swinging a bat is just as painful five months after
the surgery as it was before.

Come-back forecast: belated against the 60-day DL. More news to come.

Is the comments section working properly?

Most of the standard template features should be up and running by now. I managed to get my html skills up to the level of actually being able to add links html to the template. Then I took step 2 and ventured into placing a sitemeter at the end of the html page code. Impressive knowing I'm the actual user they wrote "HTML for dummies" for ;).

Anyway, one section I'm not sure is working properly is the comments section. Why don't you let me know once you've read this, ok? Thank you.

Game 12: Dodgers vs San Francisco Giants 3:1

Tell you what - the edge of my seat is officially almost threadbare after last night's contest. Great great ballgame. Eight largest crowd ever in Dodger Stadium history (is that correct? Did I hear it right?) and thrilling winning ending to the game against our arch-rivals. Feels so good :)

Only a couple of minor points for discussion:

(1) Two gems in a row, after Odalis Perez followed Brad Penny's performance with a 7.0 inning, 3 hit, 1 ER performance. I hope these two outings will motivate Jae Seo tonight to help us take the rubber game of the series.

(2) Is Takeshi Saito quickly becoming Grady Little's setup man for Dannys Baez? I certainly seemed so both in actions (see last two games) and in words. Little said after the game that while he (Little) was far from calling Saito an official setup man, he was going to give the Japanese reliever every chance to become one. So far Saito has done the job.

(3) Kenny Lofton's leg is fine by my standards, thank you very much. It's unbelievable how this guy has been keeping himself in shape over the years. He could not have started his Dodger career any better than an RBI triple and game-ending putout in center field.

(4) Tonight is Jae Seo vs 26-year old RHP Brad Hennessey. I hope it's a breakout game for Raffy Furcal, I'd settle for 3-for-4, HR and 2 RBI from him this afternoon :)

Nice PR move by the Dodgers

If you have not stumbled into the official Dodger blog written by, I understand, Dodger spokesmen Josh Rawitch, I strongly advise you to do so. He takes blogging one step further to the PR level I deem very suitable to 21st century sports organizations. Not only does Josh share his thoughts and explain words and actions of the club management, he actually also answers questions posed by blog readers. Quite cool. I'm happy to be able to get the information I need first-hand from Josh. Good idea and great job of communicating the "Dodger way" to general public.

One cool insider example? Did you know that Danys Baez second name was actually pronounced [Bl-'ez]? I didn't. See, that's what I mean by effective PR move.

Game 11: Dodgers vs San Francisco Giants 1:2

This seemed to be a low-scoring game typical for your 2005 Dodgers. Both starters going deep (Brad Penny would have gone past six innings had he not been hit by a line drive), couple of scattered hits on both sides, and some drama in the ninth. Too bad we lost by a run, but at this time of year, it's not a big deal. The hitting is there, we need more of these pitching gems like last night's to have a chance to win more regularly than as of late. With the loss to the Giants, we lost three of the last four.

On the other hand, it was a non-typical game for me. I consider myself an early bird, so it was not at all difficult to get up (4:40 a.m.) for the game time. Then came the rain delay. I did some reading, ate my early-morning snack and an hour and a half earlier (past 6:00 a.m.), with no hope of the game being played, I turned in again. Little did I know, waking up a couple of hours later, that the game was being played, in fact both teams took the tie to the eight (time when I tuned back in). Well, shame on me... Must have missed a pretty goodone.

Couple of questions about last night:

(1) How did the audience take the comeback of Barry Bonds? Were there boo-birds hovering around Chavez Ravine? ;)

(2) Was Jamey Wright so unhittable (or "weak grounder"-hittable, as the condensed game seemed to imply) or did our hitting take a night off? The latter would be understandable given the long delay.

(3) How does the trade for Danys Baez and Lance Carter look now that Yhency Brazoban suffered a season-ending torn ligament? Baez and Carter are the ONLY non-rookies we have in the bullpen, so to me, it was good foresight to part ways with Edwin Jackson and Chuck Tiffany and bring in these veterans.

(4) What moves would/should GM Ned Colletti take in order to solidify the starting rotation / bullpen at the expense of spare assets we have in the outfield and/or infield? Or do you think we'd need to trade some Vegas prospects to bring in veteran (but not ancient) SP/RP help?

Silver lining to losing Yhency Brazoban for a year

You might know it by now, but we just learned today (and it's supposed to be a Good Friday ;)), that Yhency Brazoban is out for season due to a torn ligament in his pitching shoulder. He suffered it on the popup to Burnitz in the series finale in Pittsburgh on Wednesday.

The arm condition seems to be bad, according to the Dodgers trainer, Stan Johnston:

"He pulled a piece of the bone off with the ligament,
[it's] very severe."

Brazoban will require a Tommy John surgery, which will sideline him for the rest of this season.

While this information (following the turn of events with the Eric Gagne injury) alone is quite depressing (Baez and Carter as only non-rookies among relievers), it does have some silver lining. Namely, due to the fact that Yhency was placed on the disabled list earlier today, the Dodgers could activate Kenny Lofton from the DL and NOT lose recent outfield sensation, Cody Ross (who could have been designated for assignment to make roster space for Lofton).

If Nomar Garciaparra is coming off the DL as scheduled next Tuesday, one of the five outfielders (Ledee, Cruz, Lofton, Repko, Drew and Ross) needs to be sent to the minors. At this point, it seems it's gonna be Jason Repko, who, unlike Ross, is not out of minor league options. Sending down Repko keeps the lefthanded bat of young James Loney on the roster.

To round things off - Yhency's timely injury information sends only one player off the roster - himself. As much as it complicates the bullpen situation, it's nowhere near as bad as it could have been. Imagine Yhency pulls the ligament tonight or tomorrow in LA: he's gone for the season anyway, just one day later, while in the meantime the Dodgers lost Cody Ross to another club via waiver wire. While I'm not happy Brazoban is down with injury, we're lucky enough to lose only one player (not two) in the process.

Game 10: Dodgers @ Pittsburgh Pirates 13:5

How funny would it have been if the Dodgers kept that final fifth Pirate run off the board so that the final score is actually the same as the date (13 April)? Anyway, great lucky 13 for Cody Ross! Quite an unbelievable game, knowing what this guys is going through emotionally, not knowing what his professional future is going to be.

Here's my thoughts (and prayers ;) after the final game of the series in Pittsburgh.

(1) Keep Cody Ross - I repeat - Cody's a keeper. Since, as someone rightly pointed out to me, with the comeback of Kenny Lofton we'd have six outfielders on the roster, one needs to be sent down. Right now the decision seem to be between Ross and Jason Repko. I have nothing against Jason, but he still has minor league options, so sending him down will keep all OF assets in the organisation. If Little and the staff decide to send down a pitcher - according to numerous reports (since Hamulack is indeed a lefty, and will most probably be kept on the roster) it's between struggling somewhat Franquelis Osoria and Yhency Brazoban.

(2) The comment by Cody Ross in an interview with Steve Lyons just after the game that really won me over to him: "I love it here (meaning LA), I'd love to stay a Dodger for life". I say, we need guys with that attitude.

(3) Since Olmedo Saenz is so good at the PNC (a HR and 4 RBI yesterday) why not trade him to the Pirates? ;) I'd take Sean Casey in a trade. Steady, reliable hitter, who could sub for Loney-Garciaparra at 1B. Plus a great chemistry guy, as far as I know. Just a thought :).

(4) I am being constantly amazed by how responsible and team-oriented hitter Bill Mueller is. By how he would take pitches to work the struggling opposing pitcher (Perez) work, how he would NOT swing the bat to take the walk and load the bases (in front of Ross' slammy) and how dependable he is (not only this season) with runners in scoring position. Pure hitter and fun to watch.

(5) Today we start a three game series at home against the Giants. See how they shifted Jason Schmidt around NOT to face Brad Penny in the opener? Schmidt was moved one game forward to pitch on Saturday (Jamey Wright is pitching for Giants tonight). Gotta take this one folks, to start off with the right foot. SF has just split the twin bill (getting shut out in the night game) with Houston. And apart from Vizquel, Alou and Wynn they are hitting poorly, too :).

I called it!

I called Cody Ross' grand slam just as he came to bat. I closed my laptop, moved over the the chair just in front of my 19" computer screen and waited for it.

No, I do not expect you to believe me - just happy to report it for the sake of it :)

Game 9: Dodgers @ Pittsburgh Pirates 5:9

I once read a book entitled "Propensity for the long-ball". Don't remember the author, but I'm quite sure it was NEITHER Brett Tomko, nor Hong-Chih Kuo. On the other hand, perhaps our pitchers (with the noble exception of Brad Penny) should read it too? ;).

I'm not gonna rave about the simple observations - but yeah, we tend to lose leads (and games) on HRs lately. Why? Be my guest, here's a sample of interpretations put together by players and coaches:

(1) Inability to follow the gameplan:

"I strayed away from our game plan," explained Tomko. "A few
of their guys, I've had pretty good success with the last couple
of years. It's up to me to stick to what's been successful.
A couple of pitches I wish I had back."

(2) Locating pitches:

"On the pitch to Jack Wilson, he (Tomko) was supposed to go up
and in but left the ball middle-in," said (catcher) Sandy Alomar.
"On 0-2, you shouldn't give up a home run. We threw too many
strikes in those situations. He left one breaking ball up for
a home run. You have to keep them low in the zone. He just
missed a few locations, that's the bottom line."

(3) Lack of focus on the part of the bullpen:

"The bullpen hasn't been protecting the leads it's been given.
The relievers have to improve their first batter efficiency.
There's a lot of room for improvement." says pitching coach,
Rick Honeycutt.

(4) All of the above.

I tend to think that it's a combination of all of these factors. Good news: they can all be corrected. Bad news: they need to be corrected with most of our pitching staff. Reasons might differ from night to night, but the homerun ball is killing Dodgers almost every time out. I woud assume Rick is going to have his hands full in the next couple of days.

(5) I just love the incident with the broken phone in the dugout. Our coaches could not get through to the bullpen, when Tomko was struggling. They had to resort to waiving jackets and hats to get the relievers' attention. Funny :). If you did not catch it, let me know, I'll post a link to the story.

(6) Ok, we're closing out the four-game series against the Bucs this afternoon and really need to snatch that game from them to get the split. This would cheer Dodgers up before the Easter weekend series vs Giants at home. Trouble is Derek Lowe will be pitching on three days rest. He needs to go deep into the game (possibly seventh inning?) without the regular extra day off. Otherwise - it's the bullpen again. I really need to see Danys Baez pump his fist after the final out in the ninth today :) Fingers crossed.

A story of one bad attitude...

Sarah D. Morris over at the Dodger's Place has a great piece of the ups and downs (mostly downs, to be honest) of our lone left-handed starter, Odalis Perez. It's a great story of how a bad attitude can ruin not only your image, but confidence and trust of your team-mates, and effectively, your once-budding sports career. Read it - it's sad, but so very true.

But there's more to it. Sarah's writing is great. She conveys meaning in compact yet rich sentences. Has a knack for driving her point home with ease and precision at the same time. Great piece of writing, Sarah. Congrats from behind the plate, so to say ;).

Photo: www.sportserver.com

How to keep Cody Ross after Friday?

Here's the thing. CF Kenny Lofton is back from the disabled list on Friday and the Dodgers will face a tough decision on who is sent down. Due to more-than-adequate play of Jason Repko, the odd man out seems to be Cody Ross. When Lofton is back, he's gonna man the CF, with Repko moved to LF and mainstay J.D. Drew at RF. Jose Cruz jr, becomes the fourth outfielder and Ross seems destined to go down to the minors.

However, since Ross is out of minor league options, he could (and probably will) be snatched by another team. Dodgers still have utility outfielder Jayson Werth (currently on a 60-day DL) and a spare LF in Ricky Ledee. Ross's fate seems to be decided, given Grady Little's quote in today's Daily News:

"It's a gamble," manager Grady Little said. "It would be
a shame with what we have seen so far, but that's life."

How to keep Ross, apart from having other teams look away when he's designated for assignment? Send down Tim Hamulack, who's probably the farthest from featuring in the one-two set-up punch that Little is sorting out. Yes, that would mean keeping only 11 pitchers, but Dodgers would retain Saito, a would-be long-reliever, and keep Ross.

If not, let's try to figure out some other way, shall we. Just don't let Cody go like this... He's a keeper, Grady.

Coolheadedness (by Jeff Kent)

Our 2B showed me some perspective on drawing premature conclusions from game-to-game hitting heroics:

"Last year we started 12-2, and you guys had us going
to the World Series already," said Kent. "Now we're 4-4
and you have concerns. I'm kind of perplexed."

Good that we all remember that Grady Little said, he would not be disappointed if this team started the year 7-7, given its share of new faces and early injuries (now, where was the link to this article?). After eight, the Dodgers are at 4-4. On pace hitting-wise, below par (or should I say "double bogey" ;)) in terms of pitching.

Game 8: Dodgers @ Pittsburgh Pirates 6:7

Nobody's going to believe me now that he went 4-for-4 with 2 HRs, but as I turned in *before* the game, I told my wife this was going to be a Bill Mueller's day. Well, even if I put this bold prediction down somewhere in here, it would not make a difference in a world of backdating editable blogs, would it? ;)

Anyway, some of my observations on this Seo-Seo (pun intended) game:

(1) Did you notice that the Dodgers are hitting so well that two guys with the lowest .BA are Jeff Kent and Rafael Furcal (putting aside the Dioner Navarro hitting non-controversy for a second). The former, your prototypical No4 slugger bats measly .240, while the latter - the genuine lead-off hitter is only a clip better at .250. Now, when these guys start connecting - we're off to a real ride, folks. Any loss is tough (especially against the lowly 2-7 Pirates), but with this level of hitting and a little bit more suited pitcher on the mound (it was Seo's first start after just one relief appearance), we're gonna win 2-out-of-3 games we score six runs and slug three homers.

(2) Is it me of is Ricky Ledee indifferent to whatever's going on on the field? His facial expression after he hit a HR in the first showed no emotion. I understand it might have been very early on in the game, but for DadGoneMad's sake: show some positive emotion, Ricky! You are a Dodger now!

(3) I'm a huge public advocate of how smooth Jae Seo delivery is - however, yesterday he was taken to a "smooth operator" by the Pirates who dialed his number on, how many? three long-distance calls to the stands. What do you think went wrong with Seo? Not enough focus? Dodger starting debut jitters? Too long a span between appearances? 'Cause he's mechanics seemed just fine to me...

(4) Tonight we really need Brett Tomko to eat up some innings. Grady Little used five pitchers two days ago, two relievers yesterday, so apart from Kuo (did not play last two games), Osoria and Hamulack should be the freshest. But the thing is, the day after tomorrow Derek Lowe will be pitching on three days rest, so we need to save up us many bullpen arms as possible for Thursday. I say, Tomko goes seven and we close it out with Kuo and Baez tonight :).

Olmedo Saenz owns the PNC...

...and because of that he'll be used more extensively by Grady Little in the next three games in Pittsburgh. Today's Press Telegram goes as far as to claim that:

"Saenz will start three of the four
games in this series, including
against Pirates left-handers
Paul Maholm on Wednesday
night and Oliver Perez
on Thursday".

Hence we might see young phenom James Loney mostly as a defensive replacement and getting one at-bat per game unless Saenz loses the mysterious "it", responsible for his hitting binge at PNC.

Photo: Olmedo Saenz (www.ocregister.com)

Game 7: Dodgers @ Pittsburgh Pirates 8:3

Funny how fine it was with me that the Pit TV cameras did NOT show the face of Jim Tracy all too often. Apart from not missing him too much, I'm one of these guys that take a longer time to get used to players/managers in not-so-familiar uniforms (you can file it under: Beltre, Adrian; current team: Seattle Mariners ;))

I managed to watch the game only since the bottom of the third inning, but if the Dodgers are gonna give so much early run support to virtually all starters, I might as well skip the opening frames altogether :).

(1) Call me "repkoed" for the day! What a terrific performance at the plate 2-for-5 (including a HR and a triple) with 4 RBI. At the same time, some spectacular defensive plays in the outfield! Just fabulous. At the moment Jason Repko not only looks way more comfortable at the plate than he did last year, but he's also very sound defensively. He wasn't out of position on any fly ball yesterday, and to be honest, he managed to chase out some of the fly balls that no-one would have held a grudge against him had he not. Did I say I wasn't particularly loooking forward to the return of Kenny Lofton to CF? There's my reason: right now, Repko is healthier, younger, more productive than Lofton-to-be, coming off the DL.

Repko is very cool-headed about his role on the ballclub (source):

"The way I feel at the plate, I think I can carry that
into coming off the bench," he said. "When Kenny is healthy,
he'll be playing, but he'll need a day off and I'll be ready
when they need me. I'll be more comfortable
knowing how to handle it and prepare myself."

(2) Since all of the outfielders are batting well (Cruz) or very well (Drew, Repko) I' m happy that Kenny is not back for another while.

(3) I'm steady with Franquelis Osoria. He did not have the best stuff last night, but he seems to have the psychological make-up to be very effective reliever for this ballclub. I like the way he went after hitters straight after he got into the game. I assume that his ERA is going down to lower than 5.00 by game 20 of this season (he's currently at 13.50 ERA) if he's being used regularly until Grady comes up with the regular bullpen set-up men for the seventh and eight innings.

(4) I have not seen too much of Odalis Perez, but judging by his stat line (5.1 IP, 6 H, 1 ERA) he must have been in control of what was happening.

(5) Tonight is game 2 @ the Pirates and I could not be more excited about seeing Jae Seo debut as starter for the Dodgers. He's got such a smooth and sweet delivery which is pure joy to watch. We could use some seven effective innings from him, that's for sure.

Breaking the L-W-L-W-L-W string

Before the Pirate home opener, I was saying to a friend of mine: "That'll be a great time to break the half- full half-empty string of alternating wins and losses. The Dodgers got an even split on the first six games, but if we are to keep pace with the NL West leaders, we need to take three out of four in Pittsburgh. Especially, that the new Jim Tracy guys are already in the hole, starting the season somewhat like 1-7.

Game 6: Dodgers @ Philadelphia Phillies 6:2

I must say that Brad Penny's steady pitching (and timely hitting, while we're at it) put me to sleep very comfortably midway through the sixth. Last thing I remember when I dozed off was that peaceful conviction that Brad and the rest of the guys will see us through the second part of the double-header, which they did.

Some mostly positive observations from as much of the game as I managed to catch:

(1) Racking up 15 hits ain't bad regardless of whom you play and what the score is. Only Jose Cruz jr went 0-fer, while non-regulars Sandy Alomar and Ramon Martinez (playing 2B) went combined 5-for-9 with 3 RBI and a run scored apiece.

(2) We all knew Penny's fastball and sinker were just fine, but the miraculous comeback of his split-finger was particularly baffling for the Phillie hitters. This is what Brad says of his out pitch:

"The splitty is nasty," said Penny. "That was my best pitch in 2004
before the trade. But I never tried it last year. I was just worried
about getting myself healthy. Now I don't worry about it. I tried
to throw a changeup last year and I tried again in Spring Training,
but it just didn't feel right. I just grabbed the ball on the seams
and I feel like I can throw it for a strike any time."

(3) There is something about the Citizens Bank Park that makes me uneasy about the structure of its outfield seats / bleachers as seen on TV. Is it because of the huge missing chunk of decks in the dead center field? There is this mini-tower out in left, regular upperdeck and bleachers in right field, but a gaping hole in center? Are they in the middle of putting up more seating space? Can anyone explain?

(4) Anyway, the plane landed in Pittsburgh at about 11:00 p.m. so the team should get quite a good nights' sleep before today's day game against the Pirates. Odalis Perez has a chance for his first win this season, going against LHP Zach Duke. Bill Mueller and JD Drew should get a day off, so we should see Martinez at 3B, and Cody Ross at RF. Olmedo Saenz is supposed to spell James Loney at 1B (due to Pirate LHP SP).

Burning questions on aces of the staff

Today's Press Telegram poses two burning questions regarding our two aces of the staff. I understand there are no definitive answers to either of them, but for future consideration I will post them here. If nothing else, we could see how Lowe and Penny fare throughout the season with these issues in mind:

"Is Lowe, whose contentious, ongoing divorce battle admittedly affected his focus at times last year, in the right frame of mind now that those all-too-public proceedings have again surfaced just as a new baseball season is beginning?"

"Can Penny, his well-chronicled elbow problems apparently behind him, finally become the staff ace the Dodgers thought they were
getting two summers ago, when they sent All-Star catcher Paul LoDuca and two others to Florida to get him?"

Photos: [www.nandotimes.com] up: Derek Lowe; right: Brad Penny.


We'll be coming back to these questions rather frequently throughout the season, but after yeasterday's double-header in Philadelphia, sensible replies are: "Lowe's frame of mind is better than his strike zone control" and "Penny's splitter will help his cause" :).

Jayson moved to 60-day DL

Outfielder Jayson Werth has been moved from a 15-day disabled list to 60-day DL. I guess that's because his wrist requires more time to heal than previously expected.

Please use the comments space to predict what kind of season will Jayson have once he's fully recovered and back in the majors.

Called off balk and impact of the hitting coach

My take on the supposed Tim Hamulack balk, which was called with one out in the ninth by the second base umpire and called off by the home plate ump? I don't think it messed up Hamulack one bit. He just made a bad pitch and Bobby Abreu is a very good hitter in somewhat of a slump. It was not like his HR was a mammoth one, either. 2/3 of the way out I was thinking Jose Cruz jr had a realistic shot at snatching it from the first row of stands. So no - I don't believe in the balk conspiracy. Things happen, and they just took a bad turn for the Dodger rookie yesterday afternoon.

Now, this happen or are made happen. We were wondering here whether the Dodgers' hitting has taken a sudden surge due to the hot-hitting hand of hitting instructor Eddie Murray. This is what Sandy Alomar (currently batting over .476 in two games, including the night game yesterday) had to say about Eddie's impact:

"Since the beginning of Spring Training I've been working
with Eddie Murray on being aggressive and hitting the ball
before it crosses the plate, and it's made a big difference for me."

And Sandy is not the only one, that Murray seems to have influenced. The young guns (Jason Repko, James Loney) are also enjoying an early season hitting binge at .346 and .316 respectively.

Game 5: Dodgers @ Philadelphia Phillies 3:6

Due to heavy rain yesterday, the Dodgers play a twin bill this afternoon and evening in Philly. We get the top of the rotation with Derek Lowe and Brad Penny facing Ryan Madsen and Jon Lieber, respectively.

Let's see what caught my eye in Game 1:

(1) The defense of Bill Mueller and especially James Loney is jaw-dropping. U-n-b-e-l-i-e-v-a-b-l-e how both of them can make the tough defensive plays look almost routine and harmless. Especially Loney this afternoon - the way he snatched that extra-base hit off a Philly hitter in (was it?) the third inning. Great! To think the guy's only 21 and coming up straight from AA. Very promising news in the Dodger land.

(2) I thought the decision to take Derek Lowe out after a lead-off double in the seventh in a close game (3:2 at the time) was one I could justify. Now this is where it becomes funny: do you think Yhency Brazoban bounced the wild pitch with one out on purpose so that he could get the runner out at the plate with as much ease as he did? ;)

(3) It puzzles me why would most of our pitchers today (Lowe, Brazoban, Kuo) miss the strike zone so badly? I see no explanation for it, to be honest. Even Hong-Chih Kuo, who used to throw strikes for punch-outs or weak contact in previous games. Can you help me out on that one?

(4) The second game of the double-header coming up, but not before we have a romantic supper at home, with Californian wine, blue-veined cottage cheese and some oranges. Yummy :)

Reason to cheer this weekend and next week

Did you know that as of this morning the Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates have a collective record of 0-9 to start the season. We're playing two more at Philly and then move cross-state to Pittsburgh for four. While I don't think we can sweep both PennState teams, it sure feels good to have a reasonable shot at it.

Good reason to cheer the Dodgers out East the next couple of games.

Trivia time: what is the worst collective record out of the gate for Phillies and Pirates ever and when was it set?

Right: RHP Gavin Floyd, Phillies, chased out early Friday night [photo: philadelphia.comcastsportsnet.com]

Game 4: Dodgers @ Philadelphia Phillies 5:3

Well, fatigue got to me quicker than the Dodgers disposed of Gavin Floyd, the starting pitcher for the Phillies. I missed the whole game and had to watch it "off tape" in five minute increments that MLB.tv offers before a certain time the following day. Only then can you watch the whole archived game. Bothersome, but at least they did not cut it into two-minute episodes;).

Anyway, off to the game itself.

(1) You gotta love these lucky little infield hits, short bunts that become a reached-on-error, contact hits that get a fortunate bounce or are not scooped off the dirt by the opposing defense. One way or another, we find a way to get on base, which is always a good thing. Even the outs made by the Dodgers in the first three innings were productive ones, moving the guys over and/or giving them a chance to score. Is this an Eddie Murray influence? I'd love to read a piece on the specifics of Eddie's impact beyond what one could see on the telly.

(2) I agree with the decision to take Furcal out of the lineup because of this right shin contusion that resulted from making contact with Andruw Jones on Wednesday. With the Phillies struggling offensively, inserting a Philadelphia-native UI Ramon Martinez, sound defensively, made sense. Let Rafffy heal all the way. Good thing that Jeff Kent's "75% chance of being back in the lineup on Friday" prediction came true. Did not see any signs of after-effects of being hit by pitch the game before.

(3) Brett Tomko. I guess he did the job that was required of him. Did not let the Phillies get back in the game, avoided obvious mistakes, apart of the long ball in the fourth. Not bad for a guy pitching on his 33 birthday :).

(4) Hong-Chih Kuo and Danys Baez were as close to automatic as you can get. Apart from the double by Delucci with two outs, not even close to any major threat of the Phillies rally. We need more of these seven-through-ninth automatic closes.

(5) Saturday night it's game 2 of the series: Derek Lowe takes the mound vs Ryan Madsen. I expect Derek to put all the media spotlight from recent days behind him and pitch what I hope turns out to be (close to) a complete game win.

I'm not bugged by injuries

Kenny Lofton, Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Werth, Cesar Izturis, now Eric Gagne and in the back of one's mind Jeff Kent (hit by pitch) and Olmedo Saenz (strained back) are either on the injured list (first five) or questionable for this afternoon's game at the Phillies.

I say: I'm not bugged! Not a single chance. This team will pull it through based on sheer will-power, stamina and psychological strength. Mark my words. Loney will step up for Nomah, Izturis (when he's back) will provide Figginsonian backup at SS,2B and CF, while Werth and Repko "rep" it up in the outfield.

My reason for optimism? We have more than adequate replacement at each position threatened by injury. Due to Rafael Furcal signing Izturis has more time to heal and his injury is not that detrimental to the team, James Loney is already showing all kinds of promise in lucky hitting (inluding errors made by defense when he makes contact) and the offseason acquisition of Danys Baez looks to be a steal now that Gagne will be out for a long stretch of time, following his second elbow injury.

In short - don't let that injury bug get to you, folks. With every passing day it seems that this year's roster was put together with the thought of being competitive regardless of whom and when our share of injuries strikes. We'll survive.

Game 3: Dodgers vs Atlanta Braves 8:9

Hmm, quite a lot of "half-full or half-empty" thoughts on my mind as tonight's game winds up to its close. Let me state the obvious: the hitting and relief pitching are apparently there (we are well capable of coming back on any given day) while the starting pitching has gone south (we _have to_ come back, because starters did not keep us in the game long enough). Especially tonight when Odalis Perez was stacked with a 5-run lead before he took the mound in the third...

I tend to sway towards the half-full, part of the reason being it's still early in the season, lots of bad weather (rain, cold) and Grady Little's assumption that he would accept a 7-7 start through the first 14 games due to injuries.

Well, let's see what more is on my mind:

(1) Who was it that first told me about Odalis Perez conditioning problems here? Todd Cooper? (remember I lost my inbox, so cannot double check easily) You were right, sir... Just as I thought the Dodgers got to Horacio Ramirez, but then Perez melted down. Could it be as much a fitness problem as a psychological issue? Pitchers tend to unconsciously get more comfortable when their team has a lead. Odalis seems like one guy with such mindset...

(2) Fingers crossed for Jeff Kent (hit by pitch, triceps) and Olmedo Saenz (strained back). Whatever way you look at it, they represent 150% backup policy at first for us :). I hope they were taken out for precautionary reasons and will come back next game (Kent smiled and joked around as he sat in the dugout)

(3) It feels so good to have James Loney and Bill Mueller hit for average back to back in the lineup. It's game 3 only, but I already feel comfortable having them hit with anybody on base and that with Loney's BA very low right now (.167?). He just seems to be able to move the runners over even if he makes an out. His BA will climb, no worries.

And wow: Sandy Alomar just tied the game at 8 with his third hit tonight!

(4) Following up on the events of the day: maybe pulling a Chone Figgins on Cesar Izturis is not that bad? It certainly gives both him and the manager more options to play on regular basis, after he's back from his injury. He sure is a Gold Glover at short, but if they had enough confidence in him staying healthy and keeping it up, Coletti wouldn't have signed Furcal to play SS, right? I still think a Mueller-Furcal(Izturis)-Izturis(Kent)-Kent(Loney) infield is the most probable option in the long run.

(5) So, after all, it was a high-scoring affair, just as we predicted here ;). Tomorrow the Dodgers have a day off and travel to take on the Phillies on Friday 7:05 ET. Brett Tomko would help the tired bullpen by going at least 6-7 innings. He goes against Gavin Floyd - any scouting report on Gavin? Anyone's seen him pitch?

The Littles

Did you know that Jonathan Lipnicki, the actor that plays brother of Stuart Little (yes, the mouse) threw out the first pitch in a game vs Toronto Blue Jays in June, 2002?

I did not.

From Stuart Little for one pitch to Grady Little for hopefully at least one successful season. More than a Little upgrade, don't you think? ;)

Game 2: Dodgers vs Atlanta Braves 5:4

Wow, the final four innings were well worth getting out of bed one and a half hours early. Maybe frustration kept me awake, 'cause last night I lost my inbox due to the newly installed antivirus software. Technically, I still have the inbox file but my Mozilla Thunderbird can't see it (properly renamed and all).

Anyway, since I did not see the first four and a half innings, here's my thoughts and (mostly) questions:

(1) Tell me about Brad Penny. Looks like hit hit a hot wave tonight, right. 1 ER, 5 hits with 8 SO and no walks in five innings of work. I heard he was taken out of the game after the fifth due to high pitch count. Very effective outing anyway.

(2) I officially fell in love with Jae Seo stuff (especially that inside corner offspeed breaking pitch to righthanders). It was a little strange for a starting pitcher that Seo is that he ran out of gas in the eight (his third straight inning). Any possible explanations?

(3) James Loney - not a bad start: 1-for-3, walk, run scored, avoiding being hit by a line-drive from Bill Mueller. Looked very decent at the plate to me, very patient. Can we expect more of this batting maturity from him? On a side note - JD Drew and Rafael Furcal playing against the Braves: so far, so goooood :).

(4) Were there any fielding bloopers by the Dodgers tonight? How did Loney do at first defensively?

(5) When Danys Baez came out to close the game in the ninth I had good feelings and was not disappointed :). But the Repko slide in CF (on base hit) gave me a scare...

(6) Ok, first win of the season is in the bag :). Let's take the series from the Braves tomorrow. It's Odalis Perez vs Horacio Ramirez tomorrow night (7:10 p.m. PT). Might be another high-scoring affair, but I think we have a good chance of getting to Ramirez (unlike Hudson throughout most of the series opener).

On the left: two consecutive night games threatened by rain delay in LA? Gotta be kidding ;) [photo: art-barn.com]