Game 27: Dodgers @ Arizona Diamondbacks 8:10
Grr, while I could imagine Shawn Green having his typical huge night against Odalis Perez, it's difficult to come to grips with the fact that our starter promptly gave up a six-run lead in one (potentially his final) inning of the game we so desperately needed to take. Pardon my quirky sense of humor this morning, but Perez is like a bad neighbor - he's flashing a smile from his BBQ on a shiny day, but nowehere to be found on a rainy one, when you could use a hand patching up a leaky roof...
The Perez impatience meter is getting higher and higher, and the bad news is that with no days off during the upcoming homestand, he's probably pencilled in to start the series against the mighty Houston Astros. Ouch!
Ok, let's calm down and see what's brewing this morning:
(1) What do you think about Grady Little's lineup changes? (Lofton-Furcal-Garciaparra-Drew-Kent-at the top and heart). For starters - the hitting was there. It was the pitching - but I will not repeat myself :). I honestly thought we'd get a three-game winning streak earlier than a losing one this season, but what do I know...
(2) I'm glad to see Kenny Lofton come out of his hitting desert. And he gets the results of his rising OBP - he scored for the ninth straight game, the team's longest streak this year. Another outfielder, the recently called-up Andre Ethier, got his first big-league hit (a double).
(3) Do I understand sitting Jason Repko in front of Ethier? No. I'd play Jason in LF on days Lofton plays in CF, and Repko in CF with Ethier in left on days Lofton sits. Repko can also spell Drew on his off days, with either Cruz or Ethier playing LF. While Andre says he played mostly LF last season, this season he is used primarily in CF/RF. No reason (even positional) to bench Repko in front of Ethier. Call Andre up and play him in front of slumping Cruz, but not Repko, who's done everything offensively and defensively to pretty much guarantee regular lineup spot.
(4) The upcoming 8-game homestand could be one of the turning points of the early season. The farther we get, the stronger the opponent: we start off with the lowly but motivated Padres, then the puzzling Brewers and we wrap up the homestand with the ever-dangerous Astros. The real test of pitching guts, stamina and clutch-hitting for the Dodgers. I think two wins vs SD, two-out-of-three vs MIL and one or two taken from HOU are not totally out of question. Conversely, the Dodgers could be getting south very quickly, should we win fewer than five of eight here.
(5) Kudos to Grady: he new something I was no longer aware of: taking about the blogger-community outcry to move Bill Mueller up to No2 spot in the lineup. This morning I read somewhere (potentially Ken Gurnick's notes) that Little experimented with lining Bill up in the second spot with the Red Sox in 2003. To no avail, apparently - Mueller went into a prolonged slump and had to be moved back to No6 to regain his hitting prowess. Having said that, Nomar Garciaparra thrived in No3 spot in Boston (ahead of Mo Vaughn and later Manny Ramirez) - so this part of the lineup shuffle could work.
(6) Jae Seo heads to the mound in hope of averting further pitching damage vs the San Diego Padres. While I can't readily remember who he's going against, it's an exact rematch for the 3-0 Dodger win at Petco last Friday. I said rematch, not revenge. I'd take any win, no matter how ugly.
The Perez impatience meter is getting higher and higher, and the bad news is that with no days off during the upcoming homestand, he's probably pencilled in to start the series against the mighty Houston Astros. Ouch!
Ok, let's calm down and see what's brewing this morning:
(1) What do you think about Grady Little's lineup changes? (Lofton-Furcal-Garciaparra-Drew-Kent-at the top and heart). For starters - the hitting was there. It was the pitching - but I will not repeat myself :). I honestly thought we'd get a three-game winning streak earlier than a losing one this season, but what do I know...
(2) I'm glad to see Kenny Lofton come out of his hitting desert. And he gets the results of his rising OBP - he scored for the ninth straight game, the team's longest streak this year. Another outfielder, the recently called-up Andre Ethier, got his first big-league hit (a double).
(3) Do I understand sitting Jason Repko in front of Ethier? No. I'd play Jason in LF on days Lofton plays in CF, and Repko in CF with Ethier in left on days Lofton sits. Repko can also spell Drew on his off days, with either Cruz or Ethier playing LF. While Andre says he played mostly LF last season, this season he is used primarily in CF/RF. No reason (even positional) to bench Repko in front of Ethier. Call Andre up and play him in front of slumping Cruz, but not Repko, who's done everything offensively and defensively to pretty much guarantee regular lineup spot.
(4) The upcoming 8-game homestand could be one of the turning points of the early season. The farther we get, the stronger the opponent: we start off with the lowly but motivated Padres, then the puzzling Brewers and we wrap up the homestand with the ever-dangerous Astros. The real test of pitching guts, stamina and clutch-hitting for the Dodgers. I think two wins vs SD, two-out-of-three vs MIL and one or two taken from HOU are not totally out of question. Conversely, the Dodgers could be getting south very quickly, should we win fewer than five of eight here.
(5) Kudos to Grady: he new something I was no longer aware of: taking about the blogger-community outcry to move Bill Mueller up to No2 spot in the lineup. This morning I read somewhere (potentially Ken Gurnick's notes) that Little experimented with lining Bill up in the second spot with the Red Sox in 2003. To no avail, apparently - Mueller went into a prolonged slump and had to be moved back to No6 to regain his hitting prowess. Having said that, Nomar Garciaparra thrived in No3 spot in Boston (ahead of Mo Vaughn and later Manny Ramirez) - so this part of the lineup shuffle could work.
(6) Jae Seo heads to the mound in hope of averting further pitching damage vs the San Diego Padres. While I can't readily remember who he's going against, it's an exact rematch for the 3-0 Dodger win at Petco last Friday. I said rematch, not revenge. I'd take any win, no matter how ugly.
posted by Harry | 3:06 AM
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