Games 33-35: Dodgers vs Houston Astros (12:7; 9:6, 2:4)
Ok, I'm back from my business trip during which I was mostly offline. I know I missed a good (and winning) series against the 'Stros at home, and I realize much has been written about it since. Therefore, my aim is to provide a summary of questions and dilemmas resulting from the series, rather than focus on specific games or plays:
(1) I'm sad Jason Repko twisted his ankle on the very day his parents flew into town to see him play. No, I'm not going to raise another Cody Ross question ;). However - with Repko out at the DL for the next two weeks, what happens to our outfield? With Werth and Ledee out for a prolonged period of time, we're stuck with Ethier, Lofton, Drew and Cruz. This puts some pressure on us, since Drew needs to sit out every fourth-five game and so should Lofton to preserve his health. On such days (two out of five, if we alternate off-days for JD and Kenny) we're short of an extra OF. Would you call up another OF (Guzman?) or wait for the events to unfold? To me, Grady will wait.
(2) Somebody please tell Jeff Kent not to stop short of extending his power stroke over the weekend games in Frisco. Tuesday: 2-for-5 3-run HR (4 RBI). Wednesday: another 3-run HR, Thurdsay: a solo shot - to raise his season total to respectable 22 RBI. BA is still down at .222, but given Kent's lower start-of-season numbers history, he's bound to pick it up to at least .280-.290 very soon. All of that the heels of my putting him as the runner-up for the hitting dud award covering the period of the last 15 games ;).
(3) I'm glad Willy Aybar has been called up and if I were calling the shots, I'd spell Bill Mueller with him for a couple of games just to see how Willy can handle the pressure early this year. He did come through nicely with his first pinch-hit on Thursday, which drove the run in for his first RBI. With Mueller slumping a bit recently, there's no point sitting Aybar.
Photo: [www.reviewjournal.com]
(4) Is Brett Tomko's luck/skill due to run out very soon? So far he's been much more than your typical innings-eater only :).
(5) I do not like moving Odalis Perez to the bullpen to the benefit of Aaron Sele. Not yet. Not before the weekend series in PacBell, where Odalis could have been very strong again (great history there). I'm one of these guys who stick with their starters a little bit longer than what we witnesssed here this season. I hope I'm wrong being cautious about Sele's post-game ERA. We'll see.
(6) Speaking of the SF Giants series: we're starting off with a gem tonight. Brad Penny takes on battled Matt Morris. My first live mlb.tv game since Sunday. Yummie :). Penny says he's not afraid of Barry Bonds. Fingers crossed.
(1) I'm sad Jason Repko twisted his ankle on the very day his parents flew into town to see him play. No, I'm not going to raise another Cody Ross question ;). However - with Repko out at the DL for the next two weeks, what happens to our outfield? With Werth and Ledee out for a prolonged period of time, we're stuck with Ethier, Lofton, Drew and Cruz. This puts some pressure on us, since Drew needs to sit out every fourth-five game and so should Lofton to preserve his health. On such days (two out of five, if we alternate off-days for JD and Kenny) we're short of an extra OF. Would you call up another OF (Guzman?) or wait for the events to unfold? To me, Grady will wait.
(2) Somebody please tell Jeff Kent not to stop short of extending his power stroke over the weekend games in Frisco. Tuesday: 2-for-5 3-run HR (4 RBI). Wednesday: another 3-run HR, Thurdsay: a solo shot - to raise his season total to respectable 22 RBI. BA is still down at .222, but given Kent's lower start-of-season numbers history, he's bound to pick it up to at least .280-.290 very soon. All of that the heels of my putting him as the runner-up for the hitting dud award covering the period of the last 15 games ;).
(3) I'm glad Willy Aybar has been called up and if I were calling the shots, I'd spell Bill Mueller with him for a couple of games just to see how Willy can handle the pressure early this year. He did come through nicely with his first pinch-hit on Thursday, which drove the run in for his first RBI. With Mueller slumping a bit recently, there's no point sitting Aybar.Photo: [www.reviewjournal.com]
(4) Is Brett Tomko's luck/skill due to run out very soon? So far he's been much more than your typical innings-eater only :).
(5) I do not like moving Odalis Perez to the bullpen to the benefit of Aaron Sele. Not yet. Not before the weekend series in PacBell, where Odalis could have been very strong again (great history there). I'm one of these guys who stick with their starters a little bit longer than what we witnesssed here this season. I hope I'm wrong being cautious about Sele's post-game ERA. We'll see.
(6) Speaking of the SF Giants series: we're starting off with a gem tonight. Brad Penny takes on battled Matt Morris. My first live mlb.tv game since Sunday. Yummie :). Penny says he's not afraid of Barry Bonds. Fingers crossed.
posted by Harry | 7:31 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home