Dodger Thoughts

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

Month: July 2012 (Page 6 of 6)

Uribe’s pursuit of Andruwza Line continues

Reds at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Dee Gordon, SS
A.J. Ellis, C
Bobby Abreu, LF
Juan Rivera, RF
Adam Kennedy, 2B
James Loney, 1B
Luis Cruz, 3B
Tony Gwynn Jr., CF
Chris Capuano, P

Juan Uribe’s journey to ignominy looked like it might make another rest stop at the disabled list, with the infielder having sprained his right ankle while getting thrown out on the bases in Monday’s 8-2 Dodger loss to Cincinnati. However, Uribe is back in tonight’s Dodger starting lineup, thrilling legions of Dodger fans.

With Mark Ellis nearing a return from the DL at second base, the timing for a Uribe injury wouldn’t have been so bad (if it could ever be). His 2012 OPS has fallen to .539, below last year’s .557 and only 34 points above the Andruwza Line of .505, established by Andruw Jones in 2008.

In fact, Uribe is ahead of Jones’ pace — the latter came off the disabled list on Independence Day four years ago with a .543 OPS (unless you take into account the entirety of Uribe’s 119-game Dodger career, in which case his OPS skies to .551).

Update: Uribe was scratched from the Dodger lineup shortly before 4 p.m. and replaced at third base by Luis Cruz.

Update 2: Todd Coffey has gone on the disabled list, with Shawn Tolleson headed back to Los Angeles for the time being, according to Dylan Hernandez of the Times. Uribe is day-to-day.

Meanwhile, Andre Ethier is probably headed to the disabled list as soon as Wednesday, according to Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A.

* * *

  • Dodger prospect Raydel Sanchez threw seven innings of no-hit ball for Great Lakes on Monday.
  • The legend of the 21st-century Billy Hamilton grows. In his 78th game of the year Monday, the Reds minor-leaguer stole his 100th base.
  • Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post and Rob Neyer of Baseball Nation provides an update on the Rockies’ attempt to move to a short-outing four-man starting rotation. “Through the first 10 games of the grand experiment,” writes Renck, “the Rockies’ rotation, on a flexible 75-pitch limit that will grow if the starters become more effective and more durable, posted an 8.56 ERA, compared with a 6.28 ERA for the starters in the season’s first 65 games.”

Pedro Astacio: 20 years ago, the epitome of joy

One of my all-time favorite Dodger moments, perhaps the favorite between A Happier 9/11 and the 4 + 1 game, took place 20 years ago tonight — starring Pedro Astacio. Read more about it at Los Angeles Magazine’s CityThink blog.

Farewell, Andy Griffith

Luis Cruz to make Dodger debut

Reds at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Elian Herrera, CF
A.J. Ellis, C
Jerry Hairston Jr., 2B
Juan Rivera, RF
James Loney, 1B
Juan Uribe, 3B
Scott Van Slyke, LF
Luis Cruz, SS
Chad Billingsley, P

Dee Gordon is getting a day off after suffering a cramp in his leg late in Sunday’s game. Given that the Dodgers don’t really have a backup shortstop and were contemplating adding a player to the bench, it comes as little surprise that they have brought up Luis Cruz to the big-league roster, with Shawn Tolleson returning to the minors.

Cruz has been viewed by some as, if not a savior, at least a viable improvement over the oft-struggling Gordon. Without ruling out an Elian Herrera-like hot streak, it seems unlikely. The 28-year-old has a lifetime .275 on-base percentage and .260 slugging percentage in 169 major-league plate apperances, and while he is at .348 and .529 for Triple-A Albuquerque this year, keep in mind that OBP is lower than what Gordon had with the Isotopes in 2011. (In addition, as the man from Cat Hell, Mike Petriello of Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness, notes, Cruz’s minor-league OPS on the road this season is .672.) But, as a backup’s backup, we’ll hope for the best.

Gordon, by the way, had a .342 on-base percentage with seven steals in eight attempts in his past nine games. That’s not to say that his overall performance this year hasn’t been disappointing, but again, we went into 2012 knowing that he’d be a work in progress.

Ted Lilly, by the way, was transferred to the 60-day disabled list. Lilly last pitched May 23. On the bright side, Mark Ellis and Javy Guerra have begun their rehab assignments and could be activated this week.

* * *

The Dodgers announced the signings of four 16-year-olds from Latin America today: pitchers Lenix Osuna, Victor Gonzalez and William Soto and catcher Julian Leon. Osuna is the son of former Dodger pitcher Antonio Osuna.

Route 66


Get your kicks …

  • According to the Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN Stats & Information), 66 consecutive innings without a lead for the Dodgers tied a 107-year-old franchise record. As Bob Timmermann pointed out, that 1905 team went 48-104.
  • Also from Timmermann:
    1. Until Sunday, the Dodgers hadn’t played a game where they scored eight runs with only two of them earned since May 13, 1981.
    2. Vin Scully has not called a Dodgers victory since June 17.
    3. The Dodgers are averaging 11.5 runs when they hold Hello Kitty Day.
  • What was Dee Gordon thinking after his second error Sunday? “I can’t say it,” he told Jimmy Bramlett of LAist.
  • Sam Miller of Baseball Prospectus finds a lot to write about the Carlos Lee deal that wasn’t.
  • Magic Johnson has been anything but an everyday figure in the Dodger world, writes Steve Dilbeck of Dodgers Now.
  • Clayton Kershaw’s Texas BBQ and Hoedown might be the best-named and most appetizing event I hear about all year. Tickets for the Aug. 2 benefit at Dodger Stadium start at a salivating $250.

Dodgers averaging 8.0 runs in undefeated July

The lowest moment of Death Valley Days might have been the consecutive errors by Dee Gordon in the third inning that dropped the Dodgers behind the Mets in the third inning tonight by a 3-1 score.

But lo.  And not only lo, but behold. The Mets made errors of their own, opening the door for the Dodgers to come back with seven unanswered runs that ended their seven-game losing streak, 8-3.

With eight runs tonight, the Dodgers matched their total from their previous eight games. Their four runs in the seventh inning were twice as many as the team had in their previous 57 innings entering tonight’s game.

Recovering from his miscues, Gordon ended up with two hits, three steals, an RBI and a run. A.J. Ellis had a double, a walk and a sacrifice fly. Juan Rivera had a double, walk and three RBI. Adam Kennedy had a single, double and sacrifice fly. Even James Loney had a two-run double and Juan Uribe two walks (after having none in June).

Clayton Kershaw survived a rough first inning, in which four Mets reached base but only one scored, and went seven innings, striking out nine. The one part of the Dodgers that has mostly been working the past 10 days, the bullpen, closed things out, with Ronald Belisario and Kenley Jansen each pitching a shutout inning.

If you can believe it, though, there appears to be another injury – or in this case, an injuree. Gordon pulled up as he ran to first base in the eighth inning and was replaced at short by Elian Herrera in the ninth.

The hottest team in baseball since sunset will also move on without Carlos Lee, after that proposed deal with Houston withered away.

Kershaw CXXXIII: Kershawctupus’ Garden

Mets at Dodgers, 5:05 p.m.
Dee Gordon, SS
A.J. Ellis, C
Bobby Abreu, LF
Juan Rivera, RF
Adam Kennedy, 2B
James Loney, 1B
Juan Uribe, 3B
Tony Gwynn Jr., CF
Clayton Kershaw, P

Congrats to 2012 All-Stars Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw.

How bad was June?

The Dodgers hit more home runs on September 18, 2006 (in the 4+1 game) than they hit in the entire month of June.

I’m guessing that it’s been a while since the Dodgers had as many triples as home runs in a month. Not to mention the same amount of hit batters.

Leaving aside the small-sample MVP performance at the plate by Chad Billingsley, this is what we have …

In his Dodger career, Juan Pierre had a .339 on-base percentage, .357 slugging percentage and .696 OPS.  Except for A.J. Ellis’ .380 OBP, every other Dodger in June was below the Pierre lines. (Pierre, by the way, OPSed .738 for the Phillies in June.)

As a team, the Dodgers OPSed .571.  The only pitchers last year to hold opponents to an OPS below .571 were Clayton Kershaw and Justin Verlander.

The Dodgers had 191 hits in 899 at-bats.  Steve Garvey had seven seasons in which he had more than 191 hits.

Juan Uribe went 5 for 42 with no walks.

Dee Gordon and Tony Gwynn Jr. managed to hit into seven double plays.

Gwynn’s .229 batting average was the second-best on the team. Every Dodger regular not named Juan hit between .200 and .230 in June.

With all that, the Dodgers were having a winning month until their current seven-game losing streak began.

Tonight could become the first night of 2012 that the Dodgers haven’t been in line for a postseason berth. They are currently tied with the Mets for the No. 2 wild-card position, .001 behind Pittsburgh.

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