Dodger Thoughts

Jon Weisman's outlet for dealing psychologically with the Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball and life

Billingsley to disabled list, Fife to make debut

The Dodgers have placed Chad Billingsley on the disabled list, from which he is eligible to return Monday. Stephen Fife has been officially brought up from Albuquerque to make his major-league debut tonight against the Phillies and Roy Halladay.

Update: Here’s a link to Dodger pitching debuts since 1988.

Phillies at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Bobby Abreu, LF
Mark Ellis, 2B
Matt Kemp, CF
Andre Ethier, RF
Adam Kennedy, 3B
James Loney, 1B
Luis Cruz, SS
A.J. Ellis, C
Stephen Fife, P

Previous

Two weeks to the trading deadline

Next

Fife digs the groundball in effective debut

108 Comments

  1. KT

    Here’s hoping for some luck and the win

  2. Not the greatest matchup I’ve seen for the Dodgers, but who knows and why not. Fingers crossed that Fife plays the Phillies like a drum. I’m not super-hopeful, but you never know. 

    • Anonymous

      We have a winner!
      SaMoDodger
      Who will be first to use the following headline:Fife drummed out after xx innings. Edit
      2 hours ago

      Underdog: you may collect your Don Mattingly Bobblehead at the Sunset Gate. :-)

  3. Anonymous

    I think skipping a start will probably be good for Chad, so long as Ned ignores any temptation to acquire DFA’d ex-Gnat Jonathan Sanchez from the Royals.

  4. This will get ugly tonight. The Dodgers seem to always get smoked when a pitcher is making his debut against them, but it’s been awhile since we’ve had some kid come up and take it to the opposition. Ramon Martinez comes to mind, but there have probably been a couple of others since then.

    • Anonymous

      Since the Dodgers moved to L.A. in 1958, 39 pitchers have made their MLB debut against their Dodgers (starters only).  The Dodgers are 21-18 in those games. The only pitcher who pitcher who was very good against the Dodgers was Wayne Simpson of the Reds, who shut them out in 1970.

  5. Anonymous

    anything can happen

  6. Lineup posted above. 

  7. Here’s a link to Dodger starting pitcher debuts since 1988:
    http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/share.cgi?id=SoBkn

    • Thanks, Jon- it was actually Edwin Jackson I was thinking of in that game against Randy Johnson and the D-Backs. Gagne and Astacio certainly did well too.

      • Anonymous

        I was hoping for another decade into the past.  There’s been only one truly legendary Dodger rookie season in my lifetime.

  8. Anonymous

    Smart move to DL Bills when he can come back as soon as Monday.

  9. From the press notes:
    Tonight, fans with the first 30,000 tickets will receive a voucher for a
    Beach Chair presented by Farmer John. Distribution of the Beach Chair
    will begin 60 minutes after the first pitch and will end 60 minutes
    after the final out of Tuesday’s game in parking lots B, D, G, L, N and
    P. Fans that leave the stadium gates to redeem their vouchers will not
    be allowed re-entry into the stadium. The Dodgers encourage fans to plan
    accordingly.

    • Anonymous

      In other words, if the game is a bomb, you can leave after the third inning and still get your chair!

  10. Anonymous

    How did Jurjens end up with a 5+ ERA?  I totally missed that story.

    • Anonymous

      After the Dodgers beat him on April 23, his ERA was 9.37. And he got sent to the minors.

      • Anonymous

        The ups and downs of starting pitchers are truly a thing of mystery and wonder.

  11. Tonight,
    the Dodgers will have new food offerings in the ballpark as four food
    trucks will be parked on the reserve level. Tonight’s trucks are Lee’s
    Philly Cheese (Lot N), Tornado Potato Truck (Lot N), Ludo Truck (Lot B)
    and George’s Greek Truck (Lot B). The trucks will be open from 5:00 p.m.
    until the end of the fifth inning.

    • Anonymous

      Mmmm, roach coaches at Dodger Stadium.  Why can’t they expand the food offerings on a permanent basis, with real kitchens that offer a modicum of sanitation and clean hands? 

    • Anonymous

      This is awesome.  Because sometimes I don’t feel like eating garbage at the game.  Although I can’t tell if they’ll be inside the gates or outside?  

    • Anonymous

      Do the same rules apply like with the beach chair? If you leave you are not allowed back in? Wouldn’t it have been smart to pick up your chair and grub in the same place?

  12. Dylan Hernandez tweets that Chad is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Friday and start Monday. Dylan also says that Abreu received IV fluids today but is still expected to lead off. 

  13. Anonymous

    Wow.  The Angels brought the wood to Motown.  7 runs in the first four outs.

  14. Mike Trout just went opposite field 430 feet in Detroit. It looked like a Matt Kemp RC shot: effortless. I’ll be a Dodger fan until the day I die…and I’ll never be an Angel fan…but it will sure be a pleasure watching Trout play here locally for awhile. He’s the best rookie I’ve ever seen…and I’m really close to thinking he’s the best player in baseball.

    • Anonymous

      “Hey, I thought I was the best rookie ever!”
      Sincerely,
      Gregg Jeffries  :-)
      …..
      Just messin’ with ya!… I’m “all in” on Trout as well…. extremely impressive skill set and hustle….
      Love that guy.

      • The only thingTrout and Jeffries have in common is that they both play baseball. And Trout plays a game that Jeffries would be completely unfamiliar with. :)

        • Anonymous

           Great call…..
          I’m glad I said Gregg Jeffries and not Todd Van Poppel…. :-)

    • Anonymous

      Waiting to see Trouts final #s and see how they compare to the 93 class of Piazza and Timmy Salmon. But what a rookie this kid Trout!

  15. Anonymous

    Bills to the DL?  –  Kevin Kennedy totally called that on Sunday….
    ….
    Dave, his partner on the post game was saying that Bills was sounding really positive about the fact that it was just a little soreness and he should be able to pitch right away.
    …..
    The Skipper voiced his doubts quickly, respectfully, and correctly…
    He said that it has the sound of a trip to the DL, if you asked him….
    I like that.  (….not the Bills to the DL part, though)

  16. Anonymous

    Maybe Bills’ troubles have not been a lack of clutchiness but rather a case of hurtness

  17. Anonymous

    “Fee Fife Fo Fum!”…………………..
    ….
    Go Get ‘Em Stephen! 

  18. Anonymous

    Giants winning 5-0 early in Atlanta.

    • Anonymous

       Pretty definitive proof that Jair Jurrjens is through.

      • Anonymous

         Zito personally busted it open with a huge one-out RBI.  Ouch.

  19. Anonymous

    Has it come to this: Adam Kennedy is the Dodgers’ least worst option at 3B?  Frankly, I’d rather have Hairston in there, even against the righthander.  His numbers against RHP are still better than Kennedy’s.  

    • Anonymous

      I appreciate the fact that AK makes me feel like I look relatively young.

      Aside from that…

    • Anonymous

      Hell, I’d rather have Uribe in there.

    • Anonymous

       I think we’re all fed up with Kenneduribe.

      • Anonymous

        I still can’t figure out why they sent Herrera down. How was that the best option?

        • Anonymous

           Herrera’s downside was better than Kenneduribe’s upside.

          • Anonymous

            I prefer Urinedy to Kenneduribe.  The latter sounds like a bucolic village in Maine, while the former should be a brand name for the troughs in the men’s rooms at Dodger Stadium.  Not coincidentally, that’s where I usually head (pun intended) when either of these two infielders comes to the plate. 

        • Anonymous

          You just said it.  He had options.  Colletti will never choose a guy with options over a guy with no options.  Colletti is all about stockpiling bodies — keeping his options open, as it were, and not cutting bait on anyone if there’s any way he can avoid it.  That’s wise GMing if the guy without options is any good. 

  20. Anonymous

    Memo to timmer and underdog: my daughter tells me she used to read Encyclopedia Brown stories, but I still don’t recall ever having seen them around the house.

  21. Anonymous

    In DC, Jordany Valdespin has hit a pinch HR to give the Mets a 3-2 lead in the ninth.  He is 3-for-20 pinch-hitting, with all three hits HRs.

  22. Anonymous

    Interesting positioning of Ellis there.

  23. KT

    Ball 4 ump…even the phillie announcers said so

  24. Anonymous

    I love watching pitchers’ ERAs in their first few games.

  25. Anonymous

    Looking at our starting lineup tonight, I am reminded of Capt. Renault’s comment to Rick Blaine at the end of Casablanca:  “Round up the usual suspects.”

  26. KT

    Come on DP

  27. Did the Phillies really bunt after a leadoff double against a triple-A pitcher?

  28. KT

    Good hits by Dre and Adam

  29. Anonymous

    I can’t believe what I just saw.

  30. KT

    Good hit James!!

  31. KT

    Yes Luis!!

  32. Nathan Eovaldi probably can’t believe what he’s seeing from the Dodger offense. 

  33. Fife is gonna single in this run, and the commenter from this morning will go, “See?”

    • Anonymous

      Zito’s AB tonight already made that point for me.  ;)

      BTW, due to the play immediately before that AB, Sanchez is out for a while and Buster is probably back behind the plate for the rest of this road trip.

      • Anonymous

         Until, of course, he injures himself again.

        • Anonymous

          If anything, he’s seemed gunshy in terms of collision behind the plate this year.

          Pretty sure Bochy doesn’t want him there.

          • Anonymous

             He’s fragile, physically and mentally.

  34. Anonymous

    Horrible baserunning by Cruz.

  35. KT

    good inning…could have been better but I’ll take it

  36. Is this thing on?

  37. Anonymous

    I missed part of it, but so far Fife appears to have been pretty good.

    • I was about to type the same thing, but then I remember thinking the same thing about EO. Would be great to see him keep it going, tho.

  38. Anonymous

    That looked more like the real Kenneduribe.

    • Anonymous

       I can’t blame the D’s too much when Doc is throwing wicked inside stuff like that.  The Ethier SO pitch was really evil.

  39. That was a great play by Howard. And while I’m not completely sold on Loney, he’s been robbed a handful of times lately. Let’s hope those balls start getting some eyes.

    • Anonymous

      Too bad Mattingly won’t let him play often enough for that to happen, and will instead continue to publicly poo-poo him, thereby leaving Loney mired in self-doubt and ensuring a repeat of last year’s monster second half won’t happen.

      • yep it’s all Mattingly’s fault that Loney is one of the worst hitting 1b in baseball 5 years running Donnie may have failed him now, but I can’t blame the guy for trying other options He knows what he gets in Loney, and that isn’t much. Save for a couple of half seasons.

        • Anonymous

          Hmmm. In 2012:
          Loney: .247/.308/.335
          Rivera: .257/.295/.346
          I’ll take the sizable defensive difference. Since Loney has a higher ceiling, I’d rather get him going than platoon a couple guys there and get neither of em going.

  40. Nice pitch there by Fife to get the strikeout.

  41. KT

    Bending but not breaking

  42. KT

    E-1…almost Fife

    • Anonymous

       And he almost had the best average on the team…

  43. Anonymous

    Seems to be a pretty good strike-thrower.

  44. KT

    YES!!!!

  45. Anonymous

    At this point, Charlie really is to managers what Uribe is to 3bs.  

  46. Anonymous

    I hope that Fife is good for one more inning.  Either Lindblom or Elbert in the 7th scares me.

  47. KT

    Adam gave that one a ride…almost

  48. Anonymous

    That would have been the perfect time for Uribe, to get Charley to change to a righthander and then hit for him.

  49. KT what speed is fife throwing? you should be able to read the seams on that 85 incher you have. but i just need to mph range.

  50. My hats off to Stephen Fife. Whatever happens in this game, in last two innings, he did his job and then some. It always helps a bit when a  team doesn’t know anything about a guy and has little time to prepare for him, but still, take nothing away from him, he pitched well.  Outdueled Roy Halladay!

    Now my kingdom (such as it is) for an insurance run or two. 

    • Anonymous

      Absolutely!
      Applause for Fife.  It’s too bad his battery mate wasn’t Jack Fimple.
      Fife to Fimple…Simple!

      Sorry about that

  51. KT

    Good inning by Josh

  52. KT

    Good hit AJ

Comments are closed.

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén