Dodgers Notes From Wednesday's Game 6/30/2010

Dodgers 8, San Francisco 2.........SWEEP!

Box Score.

• Vicente Padilla, coming off of an excellent performance against the Yankees, went another 7 excellent innings (1 ER, 3 Hits, 5 K, 1 BB, 1 HR Allowed, 98 pitches - 66 for strikes).
• Bullpen: 2 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 1 K, 0 BB, 1 WP.
• Matt Kemp hit his 13th HR, and Rafael Furcal hit his 3rd HR.
• Kemp (HR, 2 Singles, BB), Furcal (HR, 3 Singles), and Jamey Carroll (2 Doubles, 2 BB) each reached base 4 times. Russell Martin (Single, BB) and Ronnie Belliard (2 BB) each reached base twice.
• The offense struck out 10 times, drew 6 walks, and had 4 extra-base hits.
• Manny is day-to-day with his strained right hamstring suffered Tuesday. An MRI has been scheduled.

"It's hard to tell right now," trainer Stan Conte said. "He was walking normally when he left here. We'll take a look at him before the day game tomorrow and see how he recovers. With pulls, it's kind of hard to tell until the next day. We'll know a lot more tomorrow. I'm not thinking DL right now."

"He didn't feel it pop, so hopefully he's OK," said manager Joe Torre.

[Photos via Getty Images]

Dodgers Notes From Friday's Game 6/25/2010

New York Yankees 2, Dodgers 1

Missed the game to attend the first round of the NHL Draft at Staples Center; had a great time, hope to see the draft in Anaheim in the near future.

Box Score.

• Vicente Padilla went 7 excellent innings (2 ER, 6 Hits, 7 K, 1 BB, 1 HR Allowed, 1 Hit Batter, 112 pitches - 69 for strikes).
• Bullpen: 2 IP, 0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 K, 0 BB.
• Rafael Furcal stole his 10th base of the season.
• Manny Ramirez was the only Dodger to reach base more than once (2 Singles).
• The offense struck out 10 times, drew 3 walks, and had no extra-base hits.
• Charlie Haeger was DFA'd. Jon Link was called up yet again to replace him. We'll see if a team takes a chance on Charlie; I would.

"It's just frustrating. The whole season has been frustrating," said the 26-year-old Haeger. "To not throw well, to be on the DL, the throw twice in nearly two months. Last night I think I was one out away from having a decent game. It's frustrating."

He was asked if he had a fair shot.

"Early in the season I did," he said. "I had five starts. But I feel like, coming off the DL, throwing twice in the span of two months, I don't know how fair that is. I had an opportunity early in the season to throw the ball well and didn't. But it was a good experience here. It's been a rough season, but I fell like last night I threw the ball pretty well and feel like it's back, I found it again. Obviously, I'm disappointed. I want to be here."

[Photos via Getty Images and AP]

Dodgers Notes From Saturday's Game 6/19/2010

Boston 5, Dodgers 4

Missed the game, as I was in San Diego attending the Padres game against the Orioles. I picked up a spiffy Kyle Blanks Bobblehead, I'll include pictures of it in my recap of the game, hopefully coming soon to a computer screen near you by the end of the weekend of early next week at the latest.

Box Score.

• Vicente Padilla, making his first start after a lengthy stay on the DL, went 5.1 innings (4 ER, 5 Hits, 4 K, 1 BB, 2 HR Allowed, 89 pitches - 56 for strikes).
• Bullpen: 3.1 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 6 K, 1 BB.
• Manny Ramirez hit his 8th HR of the season.
• Russell Martin and Jamey Carroll each stole their 4th base of the season, while Manny somehow swiped his first. I need to see a replay of that rare occurrence.
• Garret Anderson (?) (Double, 2 Singles) reached base 3 times, while Manny Being Manny (HR, Single) reached base twice.
• The offense struck out 7 times, drew 3 walks, and had 3 extra-base hits.

[Reuters Photo]

A Magical Day Of Dodgerdom

I'm off to meet John Ely (originally Chad Billingsley), and hopefully meet Jonathan Broxton shortly thereafter, though that seems less and less likely by the moment. After that, it's off to San Bernardino to see the Class A Inland Empire 66ers take on the High Desert Mavericks - the Class A affiliate of the Mariners - tonight at 7:05.

Notable alumni of the Mavericks includes Vicente Padilla, Brad Penny, and Billy Butler.

The first 1500 fans through the Class A turnstiles receive an Andre Ethier bobblehead, the same one the Dodgers gave out on May 18th.

Hopefully I get there early enough. It'll be a fun day regardless.

I'll have a picture recap of the whole day (one or two parts to be determined) up at some point in the week, most likely after Wednesday, I'm positive.

Dodgers Notes From Friday's Game 6/4/2010

Dodgers 5, Atlanta 4

Box Score.

• Clayton Kershaw went 6.2 innings (4 Runs [3 ER], 5 Hits, 8 K, 5 BB, 110 pitches - 67 for strikes). On a bit of a tangent, every time I see Kershaw bat, I can't stop feeling that he'll one day hit a HR. And his walk-up music of Snow ((Hey Oh)) by the Red Hot Chili Peppers is awesome.
• Bullpen: 2.1 IP, 0 Runs, 1 Hit, 3 K, 0 BB.
• Jonathan Broxton has 37 K on the season. He's walked 3 batters. 25.1 IP. Sick.
  
• Matt Kemp stole his 8th base.
• Manny Ramirez (Single, IBB), Rafael Furcal (Triple, BB), James Loney (Single, IBB), and Jamey Carroll (Double, Single) each reached base twice.
• The offense struck out 4 times, drew 3 walks, and had 5 extra-base hits.
• Vicente Padilla is scheduled to return on June 18th.

"Everything is good," Padilla said. "No pain. I just want to feel secure when I get back to the big leagues."

Andre Ethier, Vicente Padilla, George Sherrill, & Dodger Rotation News

Andre Ethier has been rehabbing his broken pinkie, and is on track to return Monday.

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Carlos Monasterios will start Wednesday.

Charlie Haeger is rehabbing and though he was scheduled to return this week and start Tuesday, his foot problem has not subsided, and when he returns is unknown. From the above article:

"Haeger's foot problem hasn't gone away. We saw him limping on the video [from a Saturday appearance]," said manager Joe Torre. "We're going to just put him off."

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George Sherrill appears to be nearing a return from his "back injury", and once he's made a reported 4 rehab appearances, he'll be back once his 15-day purgatory has ended.

"I felt my timing was a lot better," Sherrill said. "I still feel a little something in the back, but it doesn't grab at all. If they want me to go somewhere, I'll go. I know they want me to be with [Triple-A Albuquerque pitching coach Jim] Slaton, but they're on the road."

Vicente Padilla is on track to return in the middle of June.

"He didn't like his command, the sinker wasn't real good, but he threw breaking balls and splits," pitching coach Rick Honeycutt said. "He'll take two days off, throw a bullpen at home and we'll look at a rehab start at San Bernardino Thursday. He'll probably need three of those."

Padilla also found himself in some hot water in Colorado, but it appears that nothing will come of that. Vin Scully Is My Homeboy has all of your Padilla news, as always.

George Sherrill and Dodger Rotation News

George Sherrill has been watching video of Billy Wagner to try and fix his problems.

"I was telling some of the guys, thank God the Red Sox and Yankees went to a rain delay and [Billy] Wagner pitched," Sherrill said. "I've always been told I'm close to how he pitched."

"All the other stuff I've been doing didn't even matter," Sherrill said. "Everything I've done all season, didn't matter."

Too bad Sherrill doesn't come close to Wagner's past excellence or his current usefulness. And last time I checked, baseball doesn't do do-overs, so Sherrill's awfulness has mattered.

And counted.

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Vicente Padilla won't be back until June at the earliest as he works his way back from a forearm injury, which we already knew from previous reports.

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Charlie Haeger won't make the trip to Arizona, and is apparently dealing with a heel injury. All of this is code, and obvious code at that, for "DL stint" to allow for John Ely's recall after his recent and uncalled for demotion. Not that Haeger might not be injured, but someone was going to be DL'd in all likelihood. At least DL'ing Haeger allows them to keep him and not expose him to waivers, which would have been the case had they attempted to send him down to AAA.

Haeger said Sunday that his right heel has been bothering him and that he has been receiving treatment for it. He said he expects to see a doctor on Monday locally.

"I think we're going to go see a doctor this week and make sure everything's OK with the bone and everything structurally down there," said Haeger, who lasted just five batters in a start against the Rockies on Saturday.

A few minutes before Haeger spoke, manager Joe Torre said he was unsure whether Haeger would travel. Haeger did not speak of any physical problems until Sunday, saying he was fine after Saturday's start.

Dodgers Links On A Sunday Late Afternoon

If Rafael Furcal does have to go on the DL, which is still uncertain (and unlikely according to what's come out about his injury), Chin-lung Hu would be the most likely call-up. And hopefully he starts because Jamey Carroll is dreadful defensively at shortstop.

George Sherrill has been warned about taking to much time to warm up before beginning a game he entered on April 14th. Sherill took the letter from MLB, posted it on his locker, and added a message of his own:

"With more strikes called, the game is faster," read Sherrill's hand-written note on the typed letter.

"First time I got something like that," Sherrill said. "It's my seventh year in the big leagues, and I've never gotten one before. The thing is, you sit there and watch a game, and guys are throwing strikes on top of strikes, and [the umpires] are not calling them. That's why games are taking so long, not because a guy has a little extra time to warm up."

Vicente Padilla is out through May with his forearm injury.

"He's better, he's feeling better, but not having thrown for a while, I don't see him helping us this month," Torre said. "That's not anything, I think, unusual."

Vicente Padilla & John Ely

Vicente Padilla has been told to not throw for the next 7-10 days, as he recuperates from an irritated nerve in his right forearm.

"We'll have to wait a while before he throws," said Torre. "Possibly a week to 10 days. We have to let it quiet down and go from there. It needs to be paid attention to. We're not certain it's going to be better in a period of time. We'll have to wait and see."

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John Ely, acquired in the Juan Pierre trade and currently pitching in AAA, will more than likely start Wednesday's game against the Mets.

Vicente Padilla & Jeff Weaver Updates, Plus The Panda's Cup

Vicente Padilla, who currently resides on the DL, was originally reported to have a sore forearm, but further examinations have revealed an irritated nerve in the aforementioned forearm. True Blue L.A. goes in depth on the injury and the possibilities of what may lie ahead for Padilla. A quote from Padilla, from Ken Gurnick's article:

"In the past, in Spring Training, I was able to throw through the pain, but this is a little more serious. Since they haven't told me anything, I don't know if it's a tendon or muscle, and I don't know what to expect."

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Jeff Weaver, also on the DL with a back injury, threw a 50-pitch bullpen session.

Weaver said he felt fine and expected to throw off the mound every other day until he is eligible to be activated on May 7. Weaver is a likely candidate to then replace the injured Vicente Padilla in the rotation.

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A few days ago, I jokingly sent out a challenge to M.Brown of The Left Field Pavilion and Ferio of Juan Pierre's Oversized Hat to put their photoshop skills to work after linking to an article about Pablo Sandoval throwing his cup, which hit a photographer. M.Brown has responded with this beauty. Ferio, I still await your submission. Do not disappoint me young photoshopper.

Who Should Replace Vicente Padilla?

With the news that Vicente Padilla has been sidelined with a strained forearm and will hit the 15-day DL, the question becomes who will replace him in the Dodgers rotation? Who will Joe Torre and Rick Honeycutt deem worthy enough to replace our venerable Number 4 1/2 starter?

First, confirmation from the Dodgers that Padilla is Padidown (/wah wah), and a fairly troubling quote from Vicente:

"I can't even throw right now," Padilla said, declining to speculate on the severity of the injury.

The choices at their disposal, currently up in the bigs:

• Ramon Ortiz
• Jon Link, recalled to replace Padilla
• Carlos Monasterios

A few more choices, currently at AAA:

• James McDonald
• Scott Elbert
• Josh Lindblom
• Josh Towers
  

Eric Stults, where for art thou, Eric Stults? Oh yeah, you're turning Japanese. And Jeff Weaver, who would have undoubtedly gotten the spot-start, is DL'd with a bad back.

Two excellent rundowns of the options come from Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness, who fears we'll see Josh Towers (who I had thankfully forgotten about), and Eric Stephen at True Blue L.A., who prognosticates Elbert could get the call. One thing that's for sure: we're all just hoping it's not Ramon Ortiz.

If I were to guess, and that's all it really is, a guess, I would rank these gentlemen, in likelihood of getting the start:

1. Ramon Ortiz
2. Josh Towers
3. Scott Elbert
4. Josh Lindblom
5. James McDonald
6. Link/Monasterios
   

Whoever it is (and there is the possibility of rain in New York or Torre deciding to run a 4-man rotation for a short amount of time) the chosen one only needs to realistically go 5 innings or into the 6th, and not get completely shellacked.

I'm fairly positive they all can do it once or twice, but I'll admit it, I'm terrified of a Ramon Ortiz start. Josh Towers doesn't make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside either, but they're both veterans, so it will more than likely be one of them getting the ball handed to them in New York next week.

Still, my vote, if I had one, would go to James McDonald. Then Scott Elbert. Somehow, I think Josh Towers would get the bronze from me. I guess it's because he kind of reminds me of Dave Bush. And that is........well, it's something alright.

Vicente Padilla To DL, Jon Link Recalled

According to a Tweet from Dylan Hernandez, Vicente Padilla is the next Dodger to spend time on the DL, as a sore forearm will shelve him for at least 15 days.

Jon Link, he of the 2 scoreless innings in his only appearance, has been recalled.

It will be interesting to see who replaces Padilla in the rotation. I fear it will be Ramon Ortiz. Aside from utilizing a 4-man rotation (unlikely), it looks like it may be Link, though he's really best suited to be a reliever.

Dodgers Notes From Thursday's Game 4/22/2010

Cincinnati 8, Dodgers 5

Box Score.

• Vicente Padilla went 6 innings (4 Runs [3 ER], 8 Hits, 8 K, o BB, 1 HR Allowed, 94 pitches - 67 for strikes, 1 throwing error and 1 fielding error {in my book}). I heard our terrible announcing tandem say the fielding error had been taken away, and it was. But it really was a terrible play by Padilla, even if he probably would have been beaten to first base.
  
• Bullpen: 2 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 2 K, 3 BB [1 IBB]. 4 Relievers.
  
• Andre Ethier hit his 5th HR of the season, and Garret Anderson chipped in with a pinch-hit, 2-run shot, his 1st of the season.
  
• Matt Kemp (Single, BB), Russell Martin (2 Singles), and Blake DeWitt (Single, BB) each reached base twice.
  
• Manny left the game after re-aggravating his right calf on a single. Joe Torre says he'll miss most if not all of the weekend series.
• Hong-Chih Kuo made his season debut, and Ronald Belisario pitched on back-to-back days, making his second appearance. I don't particularly care how they pitch now, considering the time they missed. Just the fact that they're back is, for the time being, good enough for me.
• The offense struck out 8 times, drew just 2 walks, and only had 2 extra-base hits.
  

Notes From Friday's Game 4/16/2010

Dodgers 10, San Francicso San Francisco 8

Box Score.

• Vicente Padilla went 7 innings (3 ER, 4 Hits, 7 K, 2 BB, 1 HR Allowed, 1 Hit Batter, 103 pitches - 67 for strikes).
• Bullpen: 2 IP, 5 ER, 4 Hits, 3 K, 1 BB, 1 HR Allowed. 1 Russ Ortiz sighting.
  
• Matt Kemp (5) and Andre Ethier (2,3) each homered, going back-to-back in the 1st inning.
• Kemp has now homered in 4 consecutive games, tying his career high, set last year.
  
• Manny left the game in the 4th inning with a strained tightness in his right calf.
• Rafael Furcal (2 Singles, 2 BB) reached base 4 times, Kemp (HR, 2 BB), Ethier (2 HR, BB), James Loney (3 Singles), and Casey Blake (2 Singles, BB) each reached base 3 times, and Blake DeWitt (Single, BB) reached base twice.
  
• The offense drew 8 walks while only striking out 4 times.
• That was an excruciatingly pitiful 9th inning.
• Slash playing God Bless America on his guitar was pretty damn awesome. I could go for that. Every game in fact.
  

Notes From Saturday's Game 4/10/2010

Florida 7, Dodgers 6

Box Score.

• Vicente Padilla went 4.1 shaky innings (4 ER, 8 Hits, 6 K, 1 BB, 1 HR Allowed, 96 pitches - 65 for strikes), and was especially shaky at the beginning and end. The delay to fix the outfield wall may have contributed, but again, it's Vicente Padilla. He also missed a squeeze sign that ran the Dodgers out of a potential rally. That, Steve Lyons, is what a rally killer actually looks like.
  
• Bullpen: 4 IP, 3 ER, 2 Hits, 3 K, 3 BB [2 IBB]. 4 Relievers.
• Jonathan Broxton was unavailable after having appeared in the previous two games, but had Joe Torre properly used his pen against Pittsburgh and used Brox in Game 2, he would have never pitched in Game 3 and been available today. It all comes full circle.
• George Sherrill: never that good to begin with. He could use a week off just to get mechanically right. It's safe to say that spring work hasn't payed off yet.
• Matt Kemp hit his first HR of the season, a towering, booming shot to left.
• Manny collected hit number 2,500, an infield single. Congrats ManRam, congrats.
• Casey Blake (Double, 2 Singles, BB) reached base 4 times, Russell Martin (2 Singles, BB) reached base 3 times, while Kemp (HR, Single), Rafael Furcal (Double, Single), and Blake DeWitt (2 BB) each reached base twice.
• Furcal picked up hit number 1,500.
  
• DeWitt has reached base twice in each of his 4 starts this season.
• Andre Ethier celebrated his 28th birthday with a 2-run pinch-hit single. He was out of the starting lineup for the third consecutive game with his ankle injury.
  

Padilla Gets Worked On Opening Day

Notes From Monday's Game, 4/5/2010

Opening Day, the most glorious of glorious days.

Pittsburgh 11, Dodgers 5

Box Score.

• Vicente Padilla was his usual mediocre, at best, bad self, going 4.1 putrid innings (7 ER, 6 Hits, 2 K, 3 BB [1 IBB], 2 HR Allowed, 2 HBP, 93 pitches - 55 for strikes). Again, this is not a surprise. Padilla's never been great, and never even been that good. He's much more likely to pitch like this than to pitch like he did for a few starts at the end of last season.
• Bullpen: 3.2 IP, 4 ER, 4 Hits, 1 K, 1 BB, 1 WP, 1 HR Allowed. 5 Relievers.
  
• Ramon Ortiz appeared in his first game since 2007. He went 2/3rds of an inning, allowing 2 Hits and giving up 1 ER. He also allowed 3 inherited runners to score.
  
• Garrett Jones's 1st inning mammoth HR is still traveling. Not only has it left Pittsburgh, but it's also left the state of Pennsylvania, heading towards points unknown. It wishes Vicente well. Jones also had a second HR and a couple of nice catches out in right field.
• Matt Kemp drove in the first runs of the season for the Dodgers with a 2-run single in the 1st inning.
  
• Russell Martin (Double, BB, HBP) reached base 3 times, while Kemp (Single, Double), Manny (Single, Double), Blake DeWitt (2 Singles), Rafael Furcal (Single, BB), and Casey Blake (2 Singles) each reached base twice.
  
• Martin had himself an interesting first game after missing much of Spring Training due to injury. He committed an error and a base running mistake, taking himself out of scoring position, but also lined a nice opposite-field double in the 5th inning.
• Carlos Monasterios made his Major League and Dodger debut, throwing a scoreless 6th inning (O Hits, O K, O BB, 8 pitches- 6 for strikes). Congrats on the nice debut.
• Russ Ortiz appeared in a Dodgers uniform and pitched. I took a picture with my cell phone camera, and the phone then proceeded to die.
• The offense drew just 2 walks while striking out 5 times.
• Blake also made an error on a routine grounder.
  
• Steve Lyons, just shut up already. Stop talking about wins and losses, about stats, and generally, about anything and everything.
  
• Nice 3rd inning interview with Clayton Kershaw, very interesting.
  

Opening Day Is Upon Us

SS Furcal
C Martin
RF Ethier
LF Manny
CF Kemp
1B Loney
3B Blake
2B DeWitt
P Padilla

[Picture from Dodgers' official Twitter, and via Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness]

Padilla Starts Opening Day, Torre Unleashes Idiotic Quotes

Joe Torre has selected Vicente Padilla randomly, from a hat, to be the Opening Day starter. Clayton Kershaw takes the mound for the home opener.

OY.

VEY.

kensai over at Memories Of Kevin Malone has collected some great reactions to the news, and quotes from Torre.

"We just had to pick somebody and he was the one," Torre said. "Am I saying he's better than the other guys? I'm not saying that. We decided to line them up that way. The fact [is] that we don't have a No. 1, we have four guys who have pitched important games for us."

Of course he can't say Padilla is better, because he's not, has never been, and will never be better than Kershaw or Chad Billingsley, the two best choices to start the opener. And we have 2 Number 1's, yet he picks the Number 4. Intelligence abounds in Torre, doesn't it?

As long as he's not picking Padilla to start a playoff game over CK or CB (for the third time), I can live with the stupidity early in the season. And let's not mistake it for anything but stupidity.

What confidence Joe displays in the staff.

I kinda sorta called this over in the comments of MOKM earlier this month. Why, oh why did it have to come true:

KempKershaw said...

JL- It should be Kershaw.

Had Padilla pitched better in his final appearance of the playoffs, I would strongly fear him getting the nod.

But I think it's safe to assume Torre will, for once, do the smart thing and put his best pitcher out there on Opening Day.

3/22/2010 7:55 PM

I assumed wrong.

Spring Opener Recap

Featuring Manny, Reed Johnson, and Vicente Padilla not shooting himself.

Always a good thing.