The Dodgers failed to capitalize on the struggles of Carlos Zambrano Saturday. They need to take advantage of another struggling Cub's starter, Rich Hill today to guarantee they at least stay tied for first in the NL west. Glad we're playing the Cubs instead of the Brewers like the Padres are doing. Should be interesting.
Russell Martin is hitting 3'rd this afternoon and as you can see by the splits he has been there before. This makes me happy. I hope Martin can make this spot his, regularly, instead of just waiting for Nomar to get a rest day. We'll see. A fan can dream, can't he?
Andy LaRoche and Brady Clark get starts today at 3B and RF respectively. We'll see how that goes. Both have done well in somewhat limited playing time this season. Not quite sure what to make of the combination of LaRoche, Betemit, and Abreu still unless the Dodgers are instituting a trial by fire to showcase their 3b talent for both themselves and potential trading partners. I'm partial to LaRoche even though he isn't hitting for power. Thank goodness such important decisions aren't left to me.
Enjoy the game!
5/27/07
Game Preview: Battle of the Lefties
5/26/07
Bad Ohman!
Frustrating loss, though the Blue made a game of it. They didn't have the fight that they did last night. Carlos Zambrano's slider had the break one usually sees only in video games. Looks like the real Carlos Zambrano stood up and took the mound for the first time this season. Martin looked completely over-matched, but did manage a walk. Chad Billingsley pitching well in relief combined with another so-so Hendrickson performance has me thinking Chad may have won a rotation spot. Betemit hit a bomb that served as a whimper of protest and at least prevents the indignity of a shutout. They built up a little momentum which was killed with Kent's strikeout to Ohman. You can certainly question Little's move by pinch-hitting Kent for a guy that has a 4-6 record against the cubs' reliever. I did. But Kent is, as Vin would say, 'the butter and egg man'. He is the "clutch" guy, if you believe in that kind of stuff. Also, 6 at-bats is a small sample size, even for pitcher vs. hitter scenarios. So I'm not going to bemoan Little rolling the dice with taking a shot with the biggest gun in his holster, because that's what Kent was sitting on the bench at that particular time. It was entertaining to see Andy LaRoche log his first big league inning in left field. I imagined him pleading to himself for no balls to be hit his way. Better luck next time, Dodgers.
According to the Press Enterprise, Wilson Valdez cleared waivers and was sent outright to Vegas.
5/23/07
An Alternative Is Here!
This will last until I realize nobody cares but me, I can't keep up with it, the Dodgers frustrate me to the point that blogging about them is
With that out of the way let's talk what's new in Dodgerdom:
In all honesty, here's to a long and 'hot' career to the youngster. May we all (especially Vin) eventually forget that he spells his name in the D.R. with an 'I'. I'm rooting for you.
Second order of business is where are the chips going to fall for our friend, Wilson Valdez. Hopefully Lovelace can get something that pans out for him. I'm not pessimistic about it, but I'm also not holding my breath. We are talking about Wilson Valdez here.
So, take the Tony call up, sprinkle in a little Wilson Valdez waiver deadline, mix in a bunch of Andy LaRoche sitting on the bench last night, some already brewing newspaper rumors (which I'm not going to link to) about obtaining a third baseman with power, add just a touch of Tomko and Hendrickson finally turning back into pumpkins, and we may have ourselves some interesting roster moves-a-brewing.