Dodger Woes

[Silas]

Dodgers drop another and the offense continues to flounder when it comes to driving in runs. I'd love to know what Mattingly and McGwire are doing to try and right the offensive ship. Hanley will hopefully be a spark when he returns, but it's going to take more than one or two guys to get things going.

Kershaw had an off night for him, but we can't expect him to throw shutouts every time out.

I also wonder how long the Dodger brass sits around before taking some "corrective" action if things don't turn around by, say, the end of the month. The Dodgers certainly don't want to dig a hole they can't climb out of.

 

[HammerDown]

Hey, very nice to have a new Dodgers fan here!!!

I don't know what the answer is and have only seen two games with Vin this year. The Padres sweep at Dodger is not acceptable though. Maybe Donnie Baseball should have come out throwing at the Padres?

 

[beefman138]

It is a bit concerning, Silas.

I was hoping for a 10-5 start at worst by this time of the year. The Dodgers really need a healthy Hanley in the line-up, and then they'll be at 'full-strength'. Of course, with Greinke out for an extended period, it may get worse before it gets better. Hope I'm wrong, though!

Beef

 

[Silas]

Thanks for the welcome, Hammer. I, and others that may be coming, have been on CBS Sportsline for a number of years, but they shut down their Message Boards.

Nice to have found this site. It's looks like a great place to talk baseball; especially Dodger baseball.:rollseyes:

 

[Old1949]

Howdy Silas. Hopefully some of the other faithful will join us here soon.

I imagine the Dodger brass has a pretty short fuse after all the money they've spent. I would too. Something needs to change, that's for sure. Right now we're a sinking ship.

What do you make of Kemp's mediocre performance? Still hurt? Distracted? Just bad luck?

 

[BUDSFAULT]

Someone needs to update the banner.
How about:

Kershaw
Ethier
Greinke
Crawford
?????????

 

[HammerDown]

I just realized that I'm not even seeing the banner.

Edit: Disregard. Yeah, we need a knew one.

 

[Silas]

Hi, Old. Glad you found your way here and I hope the rest of the faithful find their way here also.

I think Kemp's problem is primarily physical. I don't think he's completely healed from his shoulder surgery. Also, he may not mentally be willing to go all out for fear, subconscious or otherwise, of hurting himself again.

I'm also speculating that his mechanics may be off if he's favoring his shoulder. Right now Kemp only has warning track power. It may be another couple of months before he starts to hit with authority. Hopefully, Gonzalez and Crawford keep hitting because they're the only guys hitting on a consistent basis right now.

We also have to hope Hanley starts hitting right off the bat when he comes back.

Management needs to do something about third base. Right now, that position is a black hole.......like it's been ever since Adrian Beltre left town.

 

[Old1949]

The Cruz experiment has turned out to be a disaster. I didn't expect him to do as well as last year, but I didn't expect him to be THIS bad either. Unless the Dodgers can find an available solid third baseman, I'd favor placing Hanley there when he returns. Then I'd bring Dee up to replace Sellers. Gordon hits at least as well as Sellers (he's doing really well at AAA at present) plus he has speed. Dee's defense may not be as good, but Sellers has also made some critical errors. At this point I'd trade a downgrade in defense for a little more offense and speed.

The Dodgers need to upgrade their bench offensively too. After the 20 days in the minors that will give the Dodgers an extra year's hold on Puig, I'd call him up to essentially make a 4-man platoon in the outfield. The three starters need a day off occasionally, plus Puig could pinch hit and DH during interleague play.

Finally, if Lilly fails, which I kind of expect, I'd look at using Fife, who has done pretty well when given the opportunity. These changes would require making room on the roster. Fedex would have to go back down. It's time to DFA Uribe. Hairston, Punto and Schumaker are available as trade bait.

 

[HammerDown]

Padres won again, Dodgers lost again. Padres are 9-3 in their last 12 games, meaning the Dodgers now own the cellar in the NL West.

 

[Chilipepper]

Well Dodgers are in DEAD LAST now. Unbelievable

 

[Silas]

It is a shock to find the Dodgers in last place, to be sure. And, I don't see anything that management is doing to solve the predicament in the foreseeable future.

Sure, injuries have been a large reason for the Dodgers' problems, but in light of the problem, plus the non-productivity of guys like Luis Cruz, Dodger management has done virtually nothing to repair the break in the dam.

Why didn't Mark Ellis go on the DL a week ago? We could have used an extra man on the field. Why haven't the Dodgers sent McGill back down? Another RP (other than Guerra who should never have been called up) could have been brought in to help rest a beleaguered BP.

A lot of questions, but no answers. The Dodgers have a big, bright shiny car to drive, but the guys driving the car don't know how to drive it.

Very frustrating.

 

[bluepigpen]

The way the injuries have hit and the bullpen has finished, if there was a 6th place, the Dodgers would be there instead of 5th. I think it is time to call up the farm, could they do worse? A number of pitchers there need to see the real game and now is as good a time as any.