Mark Loretta To Retire

Reports ESPN.com

Loretta, 39, spent 15 seasons in the bigs, spending time with Milwaukee, Houston, San Diego, Boston, and most recently the Dodgers.

Loretta, if he does in fact retire, finishes his career with a .360 OBP and .395 SLG % (.755 OPS), pretty good, in terms of OBP, for an otherwise average player. His OBP is surprisingly high to me, considering how atrocious he was at the beginning and end of his career.

Thankfully this means the end of the Dodgers wasting plate appearances on him. Now they can go to Angel Berroa!

Dodgers 3, Cardinals 2: NLDS Game 2 Recap: Notes From Thursday's Game

1. Clayton Kershaw, 21 years old and making his first career postseason start, was very good over 6.2 IP (2 ER, 9 Hits, 4 K, 1 IBB [to A-Pu], 1 HR Allowed, 1 WP, 107 pitches - 67 for strikes).
2. Bullpen: 2.1 IP, 0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 K, 0 BB.
3. Andre Ethier hit his 1st career postseason HR, off of Adam Wainwright, to tie the score at 1 in the 4th inning.
4. Jonathan Broxton pitched a scoreless 8th inning, retiring Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday, and Ryan Ludwick. Smart move by Joe Torre to use his best reliever against the opponent's best hitters, regardless of the inning. Broxton kept the score at 2-1 Cardinals.
5. Ronnie Belliard and Mark Loretta singled in runs in the 9th inning to complete the Dodgers' 43rd come-from-behind victory of the season.
   
6. Russell Martin (Single, BB) and Rafael Furcal (Single, BB) were the only Dodgers to reach base more than once.
7. Matt Kemp started a great relay to get Colby Rasmus at third after his run-scoring double in the 7th inning. James Loney's great cutoff of Furcal's throw home ended Rasmus's attempt at a triple.
   
8. The offense was less patient than in Game One, striking out 7 times while only drawing 3 walks.
9. Slash played the national anthem on his guitar, and George Lopez threw out the first pitch. I only caught a glimpse of it, but I saw him throw a perfect strike back on September 16th at the Manny Curtain Call Bobblehead Giveaway Day. This one, not so much.
   

Game Log.

Notes From Wednesday's Game

1. The magic number is still 1.
2. Jon Garland was b-a-d over 3.1 IP (5 Runs [4 ER], 7 Hits, 4 K, 1 BB, 1 HR Allowed, 67 pitches - 41 for strikes).
3. Bullpen: 4.2 IP, o Runs, 2 Hits, 6 K, 5 BB [1 IBB], 1 WP.
4. Matt Kemp (Single, BB) and Manny (2 BB) each reached base twice, the only Dodgers to reach base more than once.
5. Andre Ethier batted 7th tonight.
   
6. WHAT THE FUCK is Mark Loretta doing starting? Fuck.
7. The offense drew 5 walks while striking out 7 times. And had one hit. Against a pitcher whose WHIP this season was 1.58 with San Diego and 1.51 overall coming into tonight's game.
8. 1 Error, 2 GIDP, 1 Passed Ball, 1 Wild Pitch.
   

Notes From Saturday's Game

1. The Dodgers clinched a playoff spot and reduced their magic number to win the NL West to 2 1 with their win and the Rockies loss.
2. Randy Wolf was solid again (6.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 5 K, 1 BB, 1 HR Allowed, 83 pitches - 54 for strikes).
3. Bullpen: 2.2 IP, 2 Runs, 3 Hits, 3 K, 2 BB, 2 WP. 5 relievers. See bullet point number 8.
   
4. Ronnie Belliard hit his 10th HR of the season (5th with LA).
5. Jim Thome had a big 2-run pinch-hit single in the 8th inning. Good to see Jim with some success off of the bench.
   
6. Manny (Double, Single, 3 BB) reached base 5 times, Belliard (HR, 2 Singles) reached base 3 times, and James Loney (Single, BB), Orlando Hudson (2 BB [1 IBB]), and Mark Loretta (Double, Single) each reached base twice.
7. The offense was more patient tonight, drawing 8 walks [1 IBB] while striking out just 3 times.
8. I've decided that Joe Torre just doesn't know any better when it comes to bullpen management.
   

Who Gets The Letters DFA By Their Name? (EDIT)

To accommodate the acquisitions of Jim Thome and Jon Garland, two guys need to be designated for assignment from the 40-man roster. This really shouldn't even be an issue.

DFA: Mark Loretta

DFA: Jason Repko

Repko is the 5th OF (6th if Xavier Paul returns), and with the additions of Thome and Ronnie Belliard, Loretta should be let go. Adios gentlemen (please Ned, do the smart/right thing).

Loretta gone would open a spot on the active roster. With his performance tonight, I think it's safe to say James McDonald purchased himself a trip back to AAA to open a spot for Garland. Though I would prefer McD to stay up and Garland to go away.

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DFA: Will Ohman
DFA: Eric Milton

Neither is on the 40-man roster, but both should be long-gone by now.





EDIT: Once Thome and Garland are added to the 40-man roster, there will be no issue in adding them to the active roster. With all the chaos and roster moves in the past few days, I completely forgot that rosters expand today. Lucky lucky Loretta (perhaps?).

Notes From Monday's Game

The day wasn't all bad.

1. Randy Wolf was solid again (6 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 7 K, 2 BB, 102 pitches - 67 for strikes).
2. Bullpen: 4 IP, 3 Runs (2 ER), 4 Hits, 5 K, 4 BB (2 IBB).
3. Matt Kemp (22), Manny Ramirez (15), and Ronnie Belliard (6 - 1st with LA) homered to account for the Dodgers' 3 runs.
4. Manny (HR, Single) and Mark Loretta (Mark Loretta?!?! - 2 BB) were the only Dodgers to reach base more than once.
5. 3 regulars had the night off. Loney came in to play first and went 0-2, and Furcal pinch-hit and grounded out.
   

Notes From Tuesday's Game (EDIT)

1. Can we acquire Troy Tulowitzki? I'm willing to do terrible things. Utterly terrible.
   
2. Clayton Kershaw was very good through 6.1 IP (4 Hits, 2 ER, 6 K, 1 BB, 1 WP, 1 HR Allowed, 104 pitches - 68 for strikes). I agree with Torre taking him out because of the pitch count.
3. I don't agree with Torre only letting Ramon Troncoso pitch one inning - I would have sent him out for the 10th, though when he made the move, I was hoping it would be McDonald.
4. McDonald did make the fielding mistake, but Loney probably should have held onto that throw.
5. I would have pinch-hit Abreu over Loretta.
6. Matt Kemp stole his 27th base.
7. Casey Blake hit his 16th HR.
8. Andre Ethier reached base 4 times (Double, 2 Singles, BB), Manny reached 3 times (2 Singles, IBB), and Blake reached 3 times (HR, Single, IBB).
9. Rafael Furcal really needs to be moved down in the order. I was supportive of Torre keeping him atop it, but at this point some time batting 8th really couldn't hurt. I'd let Martin lead-off, what with getting on-base actually being an important pre-cursor to scoring runs.
10. Bullpen: 3 IP, 6 Hits, 3 Runs (All Earned), 3 BB (1 IBB), 3 K.

EDIT: Didn't realize who was coming up in the 10th, was made aware from multiple other places they were all lefties. Still happy it was McDonald over the other right-handed options (I would have let the big man rest one more day) but yeah, Torre should have brought in this lefty.

Notes From Sunday's Game

A Michael Jackson Tribute?

1. Manny's defense was atrocious today. He was only charged with 1 error, but he probably committed 5 minimum. How that Aramis Ramirez single was ruled a triple is beyond me, even taking into account the game was in LA. Manny really did a dis-service today to Chad Billingsley. Manny, you know you gotta help your pitcher out when you're in the field, right? At least he didn't cut any throws off today.
2. Billingsley, while a little wild today, was also squeezed numerous times in the first few innings. He pitched well enough to lead us to victory (6 IP, 9 Hits, 3 ER, 5 K, 1 BB, 1 HR Allowed, 94 pitches - 60 for strikes).
3. The offense was once again non-existent.
4. Tony Abreu drove in the lone Dodger run. He was the only Dodger to reach base more than once (Single, BB).
5. Orlando Hudson and James Loney had the day off. Hudson pinch-hit and grounded into a double play, while Loney apparently had the flu, though his play for much of the season certainly warranted a spot on the bench. Though I never want to see Mark Loretta playing instead of Loney, no matter how poorly Loney is hitting.
   
6. Please Joe Torre, remove Casey Blake from the cleanup spot, and while you're at it, from the first 5 spots in the lineup.
7. Did Hong-Chih Kuo really need to come in for one out, especially considering it was just Mike Fontenot? I think James McDonald could have handled that difficult task.