On the assumption that Nomar, Andruw, and Penney come back this weekend, here is one possible way to make room. Repko goes down to make room for Andruw; Falkenberg goes bye-bye for Penney; LaRoche or DeWitt go down to make room for Nomar. Neither one is producing right now so it's flip a coin.

1 - Nomar will play short (apparently), so they can keep both LaRoche and DeWitt. My bet is they 86 Berroa.

On his ItD blog, Josh Rawitch offered similar thoughts on why the decision to option Kershaw.

I'm not with the team, so I can't explain the reasoning [for optioning Kershaw] but I'm sure Joe Torre will do so shortly...obviously someone had to go for Kuroda to be activated and it makes sense if we have six starters for the most recent one to get a little respite heading into the All-Star Break. At least that's my sense at this point.

It's also easier to limit his workload in the minors rather than on the 25-man roster.

1 - I would think Troncoso would exit before Falkenberg.

3 - Maybe, but the Dodgers had little trouble keeping his pitch counts in line here.

All in all, I just think this went almost as well as could be expected. Short of him dominating, he got great experience, he learned what he needs to work on, he helped the team, and he came out unscathed - assuming he knows not to care about the 0 in his personal win column.

New post below this one about the L.A. Times.

I give his peformance a 7 on a 10 scale, very solid job for a kid who hadn't work deep into many games in Double-A, who hadn't faced much adversity in the minors, who hadn't even pitched in Triple-A. I'm glad he's going back. Now let's see if he can build on what he learned. I also hope that when he returns, the Dodgers have a better defense and offense to help him.

4 I was thinking about the cumulative total 170 IP limit for the season that management had mentioned. Kershaw has 82 IP overall so far. If he stayed in the rotation, he have 14-15 more starts, which gets darn close to that limit if he can average 6 IP/start. Of course, he averaged 4.7 IP/start in this stint, so maybe that wouldn't come into play. Anyway, I totally agree with what you wrote.

"thinking that Kershaw's quixotic quest for a victory this season reflected his ability"

Ker-shaw! As if!

5 NPDB?

And now, Tommy Lee Jones will wave that "flashy thing" at all Dodger fans and it will be like the Minotaur was never here.

9 - Y

Joe Torre has come in for a lot of criticism in these parts lately, but I think he and Honeycutt deserve at least one cheer for their handling of Kershaw's stint.

Man, looking at those all-time lists, it does seem like the culture of the Dodger organization is to breed elite pitchers, and not so much hitters. I can't imagine 10 percent of the thought process given to Kershaw and Billingsley was applied to Loney, Kemp or LaRoche in the past few years.

Dodger fans, I think we're going to be rooting for a great-pitching, so-so hitting team forever.

11 K

He seems like a friendly team player with huge potential. I hope he isn't discouraged by this. A stop along the way in Vegas may have been in order prior to LA but in any event he held his own well.

I'm sad to see him go for now...he seemed to be getting better, not worse. As long as no one says it was because he "couldn't get a win", I'll abide by the decision.

Hey, what's with the code? Did I miss a meeting?

So, I'm browsing the web, something I'm able to do now and the two previous days since, you know, it's summer vacation and all. And I come across this.

The Diamondbacks placed Snyder on the 15-day DL Tuesday with a left testicular fracture.

From my brother, a urologist: "He should be fine. The likelihood of testicular salvage is very high if surgery is done within 72 hours."

Let the punning begin.

And if the subject of 16 violates any rules, I apologize. If this topic has been touched on already, I apologize.

"touched on." See? It's starting already.

15 If anyone--and I mean anyone--so much as gives breath to the phrase, "He's got to learn how to win before he comes back up" then I'm sending bad hoodoo vibes in that person's direction.

You hear me, Mr. Kent? I'm looking at you, sir.

16 - Yeah, you're late on that story ... but "testicular salvage" is new.

16 Gosh, Gonad Thoughts was 3 threads ago! (or 2, depending on how you keep track)

It's pretty tough to win a game as a Dodgers' starting pitcher. They only have 23 so far this year as a group.

19 (sigh)

I'm late on everything. In the old days, I used to "break" stories after a day or so. Before this wonderous site grew like a fern in the Amazon.

But that changes this summer, people. When you get head-butted at the picnic by yours truly, I don't want to hear, "Hey, didn't that used to be Suffering Bruin?"

You know, in baseball you can't make an omelet without cracking a few eggs...those are the breaks.

A double.

20 I'll take two. Less embarassment there.

24 I didn't mean any offense (and borrowed somebody else's quote), but some things make me cringe more than others...

Didn't Felix Pie also have a testicular injury as well? Testicular strain, twist, squish, something of that nature.

This affects Kershaw's arbitration -

He had a SLIM chance of qualifying after 2010, now he has zero.

Has anybody figured out what the Dodger record would be if we had a league-average offense? And if so, what are the chances we can actually have a league-average offense in the second half? In 2003, we just knew our hitting was going to be very, very bad for the year. We knew it at the all-star break, right? That's what made the pitching so miraculous.

But this year, it's different, right? We can be a league-average offense, we're just struggling, right?

Right?

I think the thought of testicular fracture was on my mind when SB encouraged me to jump over the upper deck rail in pursuit of a foul ball at the Adam Dunn scouting expedition.

Therefore, I passed.

Tonight's pre-game win probabilities.
Favorite: Win%/Total Runs

LV Hilton: LAD: 53.48%/8.5
AccuScore: LAD: 56.00%/9.8
My Simulator: HOU: 52.96%/8.75

I hope the simulator is wrong on this one. :)
vr, Xei

Felix Pie did, in fact, go on the DL with a twisted T.

Darn right, that's a capital T.

22 - You also used to give us a Choi Fact of the Day. You used to be somebody.

26 - Testicular squee?

29 As I said that night, you gotta want it! :)

30 XF, your probabilities from yesterday were very much on my mind starting about the 8th inning last night ;)

26 I believe it's usually called testicular torsion.

32 The squee shall not be associated with a twisted testicle.

Hip hip, Jon is right and I only hope someone shows Kershaw this post! Chin up, Clayton, you did good kid. And you'll be back within a month I bet.

Hope he gets that elusive win one of these days, even if in Jacksonville.

32 I will not be able to explain to my co-workers why I audibly guffawed.

Can anyone offer the p.o.v. that demoting Kershaw was a BAD idea? I'm torn, because I think his best innings were still ahead of him this season.

Btw, Jim, from previous thread, we should start paying you commission or something. ;-)

--

Okay, I've had to read the comments here with my legs crossed uncomfortably for far too long. C'mon, can we change the subject?

39 No, I can't think of a reason especially if he was destined to not pitch at all for 10 days or more. The only bad thing is if he sulks for too long and it damages him emotionally or something, but then he'll need to get over it. I honestly expect he'll be back, and hopefully they're explaining all this to him properly.

32 "You used to be somebody."

Ouch.

Just for that...

FACT OF CHOI--INFORMATION ON A PLAYER WHO USED TO BE SB'S FAVORITE DODGER, SOMETHING THAT CAME DANGEROUSLY CLOSE TO OBSESSION, RETURNS.

Last month, Paek Cha-seung of the San Diego Padres and Choo Shin-soo of the Cleveland Indians smiled at each other as they faced off. You might ask why and even if you didn't, here goes.

Both players had attended Busan High School in Korea. Is this the first time such a thing has happened in our beloved MLB? Of course not.

Three--count 'em, three--Gwangju Jeil High School alumni faced each other at one time or another. They were Seo Jae-weong, Choi Hee-seop and Kim Byung-hyun. I'm cribbing this information from a Korean paper so for you 'mericans, you can probably tell that they use the last names first over there. All of the Gwangju Jeil High alumni were pitchers. Only Choi decided to test the bigs with the bat in his hands.

39 Kershaw is one of our five best pitchers, by using Eric Stults over him, it makes the team worse.

What I don't understand is why the double-talk about a 6-man rotation? Was this a real intention or a facade?

40 I'll work for obscure movie recommendations!

35 Torsion makes it sound like a physics problem. If the angle of twist theta is applied to the length of the shaft l with a modulus of rigidity g...

You think I'm making this up, but I'm not. Those are the actual terms.

43 - Agreed, but it's probably a short-term exchange. If Stults doesn't do well, he'll get sent down too.

44 - I think the Dodgers change their minds pretty much every day or so on things.

The final word on the topic that dare not say its name.

But I hope Chris Snyder does not need these:
http://tinyurl.com/4yanr

Link is SFW

47 I agree, I do like the move since limiting Kershaw's innings is important, but he was looking for a reason this was a bad idea.

"Testicular salvage" made me think of some very bizarre, Monster Joe's sort of place, a train of thought probably best not followed.

44
Was this a real intention or a facade?

No, it's really a frieze.

Oh wait. Wrong reflexive response.

48 Okay, so Neuticles are basically, to provide you pet with something to, uh, (censored)?

Kuroda activated; Kershaw optioned. Check.

Nomar activated; Berroa DFA?

Penny activated; Troncoso optioned?

Andruw activated; Repko optioned?

28 If the Dodgers had a league-average offense, they would have scored 370 runs now instead of 339. Pythagorean expectation of 370 runs scored and 338 runs allowed is a .545 winning percentage. Of course, we're 5 games under .500 when Pythagoras would put us at .500 given our 339-338 actual runs. The team has been unusually spurty (unrelated to testicular fracture). If we go .545 the rest of the season, we could win as many as 82 games.

Whoa - the game started.

My coworker is studying the effects of androgens on death ligands in prostate cancer. She therefore castrates rats and mice on a regular basis, and is very, very good at it.

Wow, a repeat of last night.

Old man Kent!

Man, Kent is hot these days!

Kent loves being in Texas!

It bears repeating: Kent has an .845 OPS since he got hurt, plus that.

Uh, can we have a separate thread for Testicle Thoughts? This is making me all squirmy.

Ah, Jeff. Be a veteran, my man. A veteran!

56 Is this the Chadwick hater? (disliker?)

Blake should rip the first pitch if it's there.

54 Hah kind of a sad state of affairs. My kingdom for a league average offense!

I just realized I'll be following tomorrow's day game on my cell phone while heading down to Sta Barbara (and no, I won't be driving, don't worry).

Dang! Dewitt is struggling.

By the way, totally unrelated, and to change the topic to something less squeamish, we are going to the Aquarium of the Pacific for the first time ever tomorrow. Any tips or anything else I need to know would be appreciated. I have a 3 and a half year old with me and an 8 month old.

65 - He ripped it all right. It was caught, alas, but this pitcher ain't fooling anyone so far.

69 Wear sunscreen, I good part of it is outdoors.

69 Best to keep your hands out of the shark tank.

71 Sorry, meant 'a'.

69 - You'll have a good time, but it's not a gigantic place. At those ages, you'll make it through all the exhibits before you know it.

We were members there for a year, but we just kept going through faster and faster. Kids liked the touch exhibit the most.

72 Both?

Please don't walk Bourn...

75 Well, if you're not ambidextrous and could afford to lose one...

Wow, Pence has no clue what's coming out of Kuroda's hand.

Thanks everyone. We're going to San Diego for the weekend and thought it would be cool to stop by and spend a few hours there.

74 I think my son will like the touch exhibit the best as well. Although he is fascinated by sea horses so that should be cool too.

The Astros broadcast just showed a "cougar" who loves "The Puma."

Is anyone else getting the game with no broadcasters? I had to laugh when I heard a girl ask for a autograph, and got turned down. Is this a regular thing for the Dodgers or FSN prime? To not use any broadcasters at all?

So I clicked on the jeff kent replay and instead, i get a yankee game highlight.

Kuroda did a nice job of keeping the ball down in the first inning.

So the Yankees signed a guy named Yeicok Calderon.

Life can be tough for a boy named Yeicok.

85 Lets hope the Cubs' right fielder doesn't name his son that...

6 pitch inning.

83 You're a clairvoyant. That's supposed to a September highlight.

Nice out to get Lee after 3-1 count.

Well at this rate this game could be over before I have to leave for soccer game. Of course, it started well and quick the last time Kuroda started a game vs. Astros.

Not bad, our own 8 pitch inning.

Bison attack!

83 I did the same thing, proof positive there is a conspiracy to up the amount of air-time the Yankees get.

The Bison roams up the hill!

(God that hill is stupid.)

Wow. That is some scary strength from Kemp.

College buddy of mine had some kind of condition which resulted in a very swollen testicle (baby's fist size -- he was a Physics major, so he got some calipers and measured). He had surgery and has survived quite well with only one.

He and his former wife did not have children, but I don't know if that was medically-related or not.

Bison Strength! Bison Speed!

Brad Ausmus' young daughters are in the Astros' broadcast booth, first interviewing their dad, and then being interviewed. During the game, mind you. It's kind of cute, actually. Except I'm kind of done with it.

Come on Ethier.

98 It's gone on way too long, especially with Bison on third.

Cue Rick Monday. "Situational hitting...."

Kent makes the vetran play.

Jeez. two outs and the Bison is still at third.

I blame the Ausmus Girls.

YES! KENT TO THE RESCUE!

Thank goodness we have Jeff Kent he just picked up Ethier and Martin after two awful at bats.

Old Man is on fire.

Jeff, you a veteran, man, you a veteran!

The 'Stache shows 'em how it's done! Man, he's hot.

Take that Ausmuses!

I was about to suggest Kemp try to steal home.

Gurnick:

Manager Joe Torre said he expects Kershaw to be back in the Major Leagues in the "not-too-distant future." For now, however, he'll be starting at Double-A Jacksonville, where he was 0-3 with a 2.28 ERA before being promoted to the Dodgers on May 24.

"We made the move, not because he wasn't handling it, but we've got pitchers coming back," Torre said, referring to Kuroda and Brad Penny, who is expected to come off the disabled list to start Saturday in San Francisco. Torre also said that, after burning through six relievers in Tuesday night's 11-inning game, he didn't want to send reliever Ramon Troncoso out.

http://tinyurl.com/3zokzf

{mute}

Was the infield playing up on Martin's ground out?

112 - Yes.

That was definitely clutch by Grumpy.

0,

Well at least now we're sure that Kershaw won't be a Super Two in a few years. Thats good news.

112,

Yes.

And where are all the people complaining about Kent swinging at the first pitch? Pretty selective complainers, eh?

Boy, I'm glad that inning is over.

110 - That all makes sense to me.

115 - Hernandez is definitely a pitcher you should hammer on the first pitch. Just make sure you hammer it that's all.

I want to pronounce the Astros' starting pitcher's name as "Run Elvis". So far, so true.

110--What is the "not so distant future"? Does that mean that he'll be back after the break? One could argue that 2010 is the "not so distant future." Though it certainly didn't seem that way when Arthur C. Clarke wrote the sequel to 2001. What am I talking about?

What's the alert for Dustin Pedroia? He's got a homer, triple and double.

110 In the not too distant future. Next month, A.D.
There was a guy named Clayton,
Not too different from you or me.
He pitched for the Dodgers Institute,
Just another face in a blue and white suit.
He did a good job pitching off the hill,
But his bosses didn't like him
So they shot him out to Jacksonville.

(la la la)

Good play by Kent.

Kent! nices!

121 - That would have to be red, right?

125 That's my guess but I've been wrong so many times before. :)

Kuroda had the DP! This felt like yetersday non DP.

120 - for Joel and the bots, it was next Sunday, A.D. But that can't work under major league rules.

Here's a suggestion. Why not provide Kent's family with front row seats behind the Dodgers dugout for every Dodgers game for the remainder of the season combined with world class accomodations?
Might help the Old Man stay at the very top of his game.
He's got the team on his back right now.

129 Yah, indeed, was thinking that since Clayton won't be back next Sunday AD, I'd push it ahead to closer to when he is really back. Hopefully they won't shoot him into space. :-)

So what it would take for Kershaw to come back sort-of soon? A six-man rotation? Stults demoted? Does Torre just expect another injury? Might a deal be in the works?

DeWitt gives a positive contribution to the offenive effort.

Pierzynski and Dye put back to back shots on the board...yes.

131 If Penny looks sharp in next couple of starts I could see Ned moving him. His price tag makes him attainable to everyone.

131
Penny does well in his next start and gets traded?

133 - Off of Sabathia.

Along with Kemp, Pee Wee is the Dodger I most root for.

134/135 - It would take A LOT to get Penny's stock up. I don't see him going anywhere.

125 Red is for a single needed.

If a player needs a home run for the cycle, the level of the alert varies depending upon the determination of the Cycle Detection Warning System, which is headquartered in Thief River Falls, Minnesota.

So Shimmin is already slacking off??

Another runner at third and nobody out.

After Towles' through, I think I heard the Ausmus girls snicker in the background.

Oh my, please don't let this happen like the last inning.

Well, here's another chance with a runner on third and nobody out...

And another lousy at bat... Can we bat Kent multiple times in the lineup? Maybe have him go up in a disguise?

Throw, not through. Sheesh, I need coffee.

Man, Pee Wee, I love ya, but get 'er done, man.

Man, Blake Dewitt has the perfect look of a second baseman. Are they sure he can't do it? I would do everything possible to train him as one.

Maza is raising his value to the team.

MAZA! MY MAN! nice decision by Torre!

143 I don't think the Bobby V trick would work with Kent.

What a weird bunt.

Good stuff. Good call and excellent execution by Maza.

That was a sweet squeeze from Maza!

Squee(ze)!

The suicide---ahh. Not a bad use of a black hole at all.

Squeeze... and the first Dodger RBI from a shortstop since I don't know when.

1st RBI by Dsdger SS snce June 5th.

Wow that is really sad... But we're winning!!!

145 I don't think they're sure of anything. I think they feel either DeWitt or LaRoche can be groomed to play there. Maybe work with one of them over the off season. Especially with Kent gone.

Since I'm not seeing the game, just following on the web, just how bad have the two ground outs with runner on 3rd, less than two outs been? It hasn't just been bad luck?

Kuroda with the walk!

LOL Kuroda walked?

Success of the bunt has blown Hernandez composure.

156 - Pee Wee chopped to third, easy play.

I've been living in a cave for all intents and purposes. Kemp batting leadoff--is this a regular thang?

154,
Obviously I meant Dodger not Dsdger. Doh.

I don't think Dsdger shortstops have ever had an RBI. They aren't a very god hitting team.

159 It's the presence of the Bison.

161 - Yes. 2 games in a row which for this team is very regular.

156
The weak stuff that we have been seeing too much of recently.

160 165 Thanks.

162,

Oh man I'm making a fool of myself. "Good hitting" not "god hitting". Ugh, terrible.

"Dodgers bullpen coach Ken Howell had a part of his third toe on his right foot amputated at USC Medical Center on Tuesday due to a foot infection. Howell is expected to be discharged from the hospital by Friday."

http://www.beloblog.com/Pe_Blogs/prosports/2008/07/dodgers-coach-howell-has-toe-a.html

{167]
"god hitting" would be a way to describe Kent in this series.

Red alert in Tampa.

168 Diabetic?

I just noticed that last night's game raised up Russell Martin's OPS by 22 points, to .870.

If the Dodgers go on to win tonight, they will be 8-3 in games where Pierre got zero at-bats.

Kuroda is on top of his game tonight.

174 If it ends up 38-3, he'll still hit leadoff when he gets off the DL.

Red alert in Tampa right now in the 6th.

Ped. is coming up.

Andre the GIANT HR!

Ethier - Bomb!

Lyons called that one and Ethier hit that in Bonds territory. What a SHOT!

"This could be a good pitch for Andre to hit right here...."
(ball sails towards upper deck)
"Yup."

Oh man, that Ethier blast makes me a happy camper!

Ethier! No longer 3.5!

That was outta here fast and far.

The Run Elvis is just a hunka hunka burnin' love for the Dodgers.

Man, did I pick the wrong day to go to Houston.

Wow!!!!! Andre with the upper deck shot!!!!

438 Foot Home Run by Ethier.

438 ft. for Ethier.

Astro fans are probably wondering why:

A. Michael Bourn leads off every game
B. Runelvys Hernandes is in the major leagues.

Since their bullpen is thin, the Astros will be bringing in one of the Ausmus daughters to pitch the next inning.

I'm not sure why this is, but to me the Dodgers seem like they're a good team when they win, but when they lose they seem like a bad team.

Since the 3rd inning last night, the Dodgers have scored exactly one run in nine of the 14 innings. That's a lot of picket fences.

192 Except the Saturday game against the Angels. They looked bad, they won and everyone rejoiced.

168 , 169 - which is why I feel obliged to watch my weight.

190 - as are Royals fans. What shocked me was to discover he was briefly in the Yankees' and Red Sox' system last year.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/H/Runelvys-Hernandez.shtml

Oh boy. I don't like where this is going.

Beware of the place kicker!

192
Deep.

When in doubt, pinch-hit with your punter.

GREAT PICK OFF! by MAZA and Kuroda!

Huge play by Kuroda and Maza!

Wow that pickoff is huge. Very nice tag by Maza!

190
At least one Dodger fan was already wondering both of those things.

Seattle will be losing the Sonics. That really sucks.

Sweet pick off move by Hiro!

My, Kuroda!

Maybe Maza heard the health report on Furcal and he's feeling more comfortable.

Come on Kuroda! FOCUS!

Wow, that was a dumb play by the Astros down 4-0.

Thank god for the pickoff, too.

204 Man, that stinks. For Oklahoma City? That's just lame. No offense to Oklahoma or anything.

Runner stays at third on this play and does not score with Young in left field.

That pick off was huge now.

WOW! that was close!

Sonics - another poorly run sports franchise that punishes its fans and then leaves.

Thankfully Bourn can only run.

Bourn is worse than Juan Pierre.
And its not close.

Ugh. I hope that doesn't mean Paul Allen will move the TrailBlazers north. They're just starting to get good.

204 - http://tinyurl.com/5yxyrw

210 Oklahoma... bleh

The Bourn Indignity.

I used to live in Oklahoma City.

204
Ha! Enjoy, OK!

It's amazing that major league managers are not held accountable for putting people like Bourn and Pierre in the leadoff spot. I guess that owners only really pay attention to wins and losses.

210
lol, None taken. I currently live in Oklahoma City so it's good for me!

Obviously David Newhan was distracted by all the problems at the L.A. Times.

Just to be precise:

Red alert for Dustin Pedroia in St. Petersburg.

This is a red alert.

223 It seems like the little good they do disproportionately outweighs how often they under perform.

223 Well, the W-L record and attendance are about all that show up in the business model, or so I'd guess.

226 Missed it by that much.

maybe I'm in the minority in thinking this but I wish they would do what they did with Bills & use him off the pen.

Regardless, at 20 years old doing what he did IS very impressive.

226 It takes a proven veteran alert announcer to do it correctly, consistently. These upstarts just don't get it.

by the way I'm lovin' Kuroda's pitching today.

I like Gameday's bench/bullpen feature.

Our bench is looking a little thin, but the bullpen looks great!

229
That's why I didn't give you my proxy.

233 "Our bench is looking a little thin ..."

Only because the Killer Tomato doesn't live here anymore.

12

No problemo we are use to it.

Yah, no offense, OKC fans have proven to be great, but it's just sad. Seattle has such a great hoops tradition. It's too bad for them they didn't have Paul Allen buy 'em.

Me likey Kuroda!

According to Steiner, Andruw Jones "just needs to get his swing back." Considering the swing in question, can't we all just agree to leave and find a better one instead?

Oh by the way, 6 shutout innings for Kuroda. Just three more Hiro! And make it snappy, I have to leave in 25 mins.

Whoa, a little late on this but, Luis Maza was green-lighted 3-0 with one out, one on and the pitcher on deck?,

240 In only 71 pitches.

Yellow alert for Andre Ethier in Houston.

This is a yellow alert.

241 - I'm not sure if that was a green light from the bench. Bowa looked annoyed at him. (Of course, Bowa always looks annoyed.) I certainly don't get it.

--

Ethier needs a triple for the you-know-what now! What is that, yellow?

Is this a yellow alert for Ethier?

Dang! nice play by Geof!

His pitches seem to have great late life to them.

Fastest Cycle Alert in the West.

239 - they won't get no ring if he ain't got that swing.

I'm thinking of a pock job to the flag pole & we've got something...

Ethier is pretty slow footed from what I've seen.

Kent and Ethier look locked in.

I know it's probably been done to death around here, but Steiner's habit of trying to call things before they happen is just so annoying.

He was halfway through calling that Kent fly out a home run! grrrrr

It's Kuroda first game back so the Dodgers probably have him limited for just tonight.

252. Agree to the Max.

Kuroda is making this game look very easy.

Lyons just said Kuroda has only slightly above average stuff.

It's good to see Ethier get off to a good start in July. Hope he keeps it up. It definitely makes a difference when Kent is hitting well. I think we should keep this basic lineup for a while.

That was pretty funny when Lyons called Ethier's home run. He pretty much hit it on cue.

Snake Watch: D'Backs 1 Brewers 0 Top 3

252

he also relied on the score board for pitch counts (the score board was wrong). ah!!

Kuroda so dominate!

235 , 252 But Alice does!

Rays have the bases loaded and nobody out for Longoria down by one in the 7th on ESPN.

Longoria turns it around with a two run double 5-4 Rays. This team is just incredible to watch.

7 IP, 83 pitches, first game back from the DL. How long will they allow Kuroda to go?

NOOOO! I hope Loney is fine!

the short stop situation is something to be concerned about especially if we are going to make a serious run at it.

suck it up Loney!

James!

263. woohoo!, 150:1 baby! Cha-Ching.
vr, Xei

Go Dodgers! Go Rays!

Time to get Kuo loose in the bullpen.

Loney's ok. Breathe in breathe out.

Phew, looks like he's okay. That was scary for a second.

Not that I wouldn't love to see Sweeney get a chance to play more or anything. :-/

if Hu or Abreu (Etanislao's injury really hurt us in my opinion) were healthy I wouldn't even be concerned.

Dang! Dewitt chased a awful pitch.

Young pops one up and gets a hit. Young blisters one and lines out.

Broxton Time. Payback for Loney on another day.

I'm trusting upper management wont do anything panicky though. 274

Wade is in with a four run lead and so is Repko for Young. Berroa for Kent, Maza to second.

great presence of mind by DeWitt.

Old sort-of-friend alert! And he almost hit one out.

Good thing Bourn can run.

Dewitt maybe struggling at the plate, but he is giving he all defensively!

5-4 Rays.

Cha-Ching. Get out the brooms.
vr, Xei

7-4 Rays 2 RBI single by Bartlett.

7-4 Rays on the Bartlett 2-RBI single.

Xeifrank, you should change your name to "150:1".

Wade makes it look easy.

I lied -- 7-4 Rays on a bases-loaded RBI single by Jason Bartlett.

Dodgers WE: 95%
Rays WE: 94%
vr, Xei

288. or "150:1 Baby!"
vr, Xei

291 Fangraphs says 98%. Where do you get your numbers from?

Wow, those Rays are pretty amazing, and im glad they are doing it in the AL East.

293. It ticked to 98% just now. :)
vr, Xei

6 run inning for Rays! Amazing.

Yahoo Sports lost count with the Yankees offense tonight against the Rangers. They gave the Yankees just 7 runs in the 7th when they actually scored 9. The Yankees lead 15-7. I guess Hank Steinbrenner's exhortation for the team to hit better worked.

Facing rookie Warner Madrigal in relief helped.

on the complimentary Blue Crew goody bag: the Russell Martin back pack looks flammable but I'm sure it's not.

297

Bob, do you have any Rays in your Fantasy team?

is it just me or are the Dodgera playing WAY more day games this year?

dang!

299
I had Carlos Pena at the beginning of the year, but I waived him because he started slowly. I also had Percival for a while, but then he got hurt.

My saves are supposed to come from the imposing trio of Lidge, Street, and Wilson.

C.J. Wilson!

Since Pierre's injury, there's been a few times where 8 of the 9 players in the Dodger lineup were home-grown. If Berroa ever gets taken out and we see Laroche 2B - Dewitt 3B, Maza SS, then it could happen.

No Dodger love Bob?

Las Vegas Bottom 1st

Ramon Martinez flies out to right fielder Adam Pavkovich in foul territory.
Nomar Garciaparra singles on a fly ball to right fielder Adam Pavkovich.
Terry Tiffee singles on a line drive to center fielder Christopher Walker, deflected by shortstop Brandon Wood. Nomar Garciaparra to 3rd.
Andruw Jones flies out to right fielder Adam Pavkovich.

303
I have Billingsley!

302 - Maza was signed by the Twins in 1997 as an undrafted free agent and was released in 2006. We signed him in 2007 and he made his MLB debut this season.

aside from yesterday [bullpen implosion] our pitching is just A TREAT to watch.

Wow, you cannot play around with Lee!

306 Thanks - let's reword that to "players who made their MLB debut with the Dodgers", so Ethier is also included.

I take full responsibility for that.

That was the ideal team for me for Carlos Lee to hit a home run.

Dustin Pedroia is not greedy.

Wade us a perfect example of a guy learning his craft by playing many many minor league games.

312
The Red Alert is still in effect!

Russell Martin puts the glove & Wade throws it were he wants it.

Nice 2 inning for Wade!

303 - is that anything like muskrat love?

We'll take it.

In the official stats, all Wade gets credit for is a "GF"

Snake Watch: D'Backs 2 Brewers 0 Bot 4

Kuroda was excellent and the bullpen is saved for the day game tomorrow. 11 a.m tomorrow in L.A.

11 am? too early for me!

Brad Lidge pitched the 9th inning tonight against Atlanta. In a 7-3 game, the bases were loaded and he got the last out before any runs came across.

Here's a question: how come he didn't get the save?

322 too much of a lead

He came in with the score 7-3 and you cannot create a save situation. So as Bob said all he gets is a "GF" and a pat on the back.

322
Lidge came into a game that was 7-3 and nobody was on base.

I think I've found the secret to winning

1. No Juan Pierre
2. Offense scores more runs
3. ????
4. Profit

We don't play Zona at home until late July early days of August.

I'll be there.

Modest 3 game win streak in the works here?

Huzzah! A nice easy game for once.

We face Brandon Backe tomorrow morning and he's 2nd in the N.L with most HR's allowed with 20 behind Brett Myers who was optioned to AAA.

the Brewers have a really nice offense so I'm definitely gonna keep tabs on that game.

I wonder what Mike LOL was thinking there.

150:1!

Baby!

Rays shock the Red Sox!

Brett Favre wants to play again. Aaron Rodgers is the saddest player in football again.

336 I'm 100% positive that someone who plays for the Raiders is the saddest player in football.

Or maybe Wade Phillips.

Snake Watch: D'Backs 2 Brewers 1 Top 6 J.J Hardy RBI single

Cycle alerts canceled.

Stand down.

Las Vegas Bottom 3rd

Ramon Martinez grounds out, third baseman Freddy Sandoval to first baseman Matthew Brown.
Nomar Garciaparra singles on a soft line drive to center fielder Christopher Walker.
Terry Tiffee grounds into a force out, first baseman Matthew Brown to shortstop Brandon Wood. Nomar Garciaparra out at 2nd. Terry Tiffee to 1st.
Andruw Jones grounds into a force out, third baseman Freddy Sandoval to second baseman Sean Rodriguez. Terry Tiffee out at 2nd.

Not only does the widget slow down DT for me it is currently showing a 4-1 loss for the Dodgers. ah what would we do without the widgets.

341 Well then obviously Spacely Sprockets and Cogswell Cogs would control the market. We can't have that, now can we?

Snake Watch: Brewers 2 D'Backs 2 Mike Cameron RBI double Top 7

Furcal is going to undergo surgery (out 8 weeks), Ivan DeJesus is being considered at SS to split time with Nomar, and OF Vetters separated his shoulder in the Raptor/Chukar brawl.

All from Diamond.

DeJesus Jr. for the sticklers.

344 EIGHT WEEKS? More? grumble grumble grumble

The Angel Berroa Death Watch has begun.

346
Don't think of it as eight weeks. Think of it as two months. It's shorter that way.

I know Jon didn't like it the last time I chose to respond to something Regfairfield wrote at his blog here, at DT, instead of at Reg's blog, but I want this to be read, and responded to, by the DT community. Reg claims that Kershaw is a better pitcher than Stults and that the MLB team is worse off in the short-run for keeping Stults over Kershaw (but he doesn't disagree with sending Kershaw down, for other reasons). I disagree with that, and very strongly. And I'll say just to be clear that this is not about who projects to be better in the long run, as there is only one reasonable answer to that. The issue is simply who is the more capable pitcher right now. And I will begin my case for Stults by asking, "Does anybody think Kershaw is capable of throwing a complete game shutout in the majors this season?" Quite impossible, in my opinion. Kershaw needs work on commanding all three of his pitches in the strike zone, and throwing all three for strikes period. He had eight starts with us and his ERA was in the mid-four range, which is fine from a 20-year-old, but it is, on another level, a result incongruous with what might be expected from a pitcher with the fastest average fastball thrown by any lefty starter in the majors this year (faster than Sabathia's average fastball, according to Fangraphs). Stults, on the other hand, is long on polish if short on long-term potential. He throws four pitches with command, they all rate as decent, and he throws all four for strikes and with good command within the strike zone. He is confident in all of them and will throw any of them at any point in the count, in contrast with Kershaw, who pretty well has to throw a fastball when he is in a count that favors the hitter. And just on results so far, Stults has an ERA well below the mid-two range, which will no doubt go up, but Stults' ERA and Kershaw's in the majors this year are not even close. For all of the reasons above, I have more confidence in Stults as a major league starter for the rest of 2008 than I do in Kershaw. People who disagree with me, please make your case, and I particularly invite Regfairfield to make a rebuttal, if he would like to offer one.

348 Even though it's actually longer.

348 With a Maza/ Berroa SS platoon, it is all perceived as a sideways 8.

So what valuable talent do we trade for a mediocre SS?

During two of Kershaw's starts (vs. San Diego and vs. Houston), he pitched 5+ innings while allowing only one run while in the game. Both times, a reliever let runners score (Proctor with a wild pitch and Falkenborg with a HR). With clean innings, Kershaw's ERA is a very respectable 3.72.

lol 348
I agree with you Canuck for what it's worth.

352 5+ innings isn't good for the bullpen, when that's the best that can be expected of him. He's (very) good, but he taxes the bullpen. Obviously the front office wants to keep him as a starter, because they sent him down to keep stretched out. This is not a setback for the kid. It's just a letdown.

Rafael Furcal's final Dodger at bat will end up being a fly out to right against Scott Schoeneweis of the Mets on May 5, 2008.

His last hit as a Dodgers was a leadoff homer against Oliver Perez in the same game.

351 Unfortunately, I believe Ethier will be the trade bait. It simply doesn't matter how well he produces, Ethier will always be behind Pierre on the outfield depth chart as long as Flanders/Torre are calling the shots.

351
Ethier isn't going to be traded as long as Pierre is on the DL. And Pierre is out 4-6 weeks. And there's no reason to believe that Pierre won't succumb to DELDLS (Dodgers Extra Long Disabled List Syndrome).

Weeks homers to put the Brewers up 3-2 in the 8th.

358 - Bob is on the watch. Weeks smoked that ball.

There's just no way around it, they screwed up Furcals recovery, again. He should be rehabbing from surgery now in AAA not having it.

356 I'm worried that I'll see Pee Wee for Juan Uribe. Really worried.

At least I can revive the UU-RIBE! cheer made famous in San Francisco for Jose, and perfected in Denver for Juan at the time (by myself and my Giants fan friend).

352 Is Eric Stults capable of throwing another complete game shutout himself? Probably not. I don't have a big enough sample size to know if Stults is a major ground ball or fly ball pitcher (he was average in AAA, he has a career G/F of 1) but if he's as fly ball prone as he seems, he's going to get hurt, especially since he's not a strike out pitcher.

Yes, there will be the rare time when he throws the complete game shutout when all those fly balls stay in the park but more often than not one or two are going over the fence, and that can take Stults out of the game early which is just as bad as him going all the way is good.

Kershaw isn't going to throw the complete game shutout, but he's much less likely to get rocked. I believe consistency is way over rated, but I think Stults is more likely to be bad than good on any given day, so I give the nod to Kershaw.

357 You're forgetting Pierre's gamer factor.

The Dodgers can't afford to be trading away anybody on the 25 man roster right now including their outfield depth. If anybody goes it'll be from the farm.

357 Technically, I suppose you're right, Bob. But, I figure Pierre will make a miraculous recovery just to spite me and be back in much less time than predicted. Then Ethier will be viewed as expendable with His Crucialness starting every day and PeeWee and Repko providing backup.

360 Back problems are very difficult to diagnose. I don't think you can blame the Dodgers medical staff for not jumping to the surgery option when Furcal first mentioned he had back pain. It sucks, yes, but it doesn't suck because of them.

Okay, my new prediction is the Dodgers winning the West with a record of 79-83. The Giants a close second at 77-85. Everyone else pretty far back.

In 1959, the Dodgers won the World Series despite having two shortstops who played much of the year having OPS+ of 37 (Don Zimmer) and 55 (Maury Wills).

And Wills was considered a savior. Mainly because he was not Don Zimmer.

This year:
Furcal 170 (!!!)
Hu 14
Berroa 23
Maza 59

Pierre won't be back until after the deadline so Ethier and Young are safe for sure. Ethier would probably be safe regardless. If Jones comes back Young goes back to 4th outfielder status and Repko goes back to Vegas.

Tied up in AZ. Upton homer.

364 Your value of the 25 man roster might differ from the front office's, considering that you don't have a job on the line.

Could they move Furcal to the 60-day DL retroactively to make space on the roster?

366

I guess, but if it's an 8 week recovery and the exact same problem ended his 2007 season it wouldn't be a stretch to think they could have known that was the better option than "conditioning".

372 Yep.

372
I'm pretty sure Furcal could be put on the 60-day DL anyway. If he's going to be out at least 8 weeks that strikes me as close enough.

372 Hellooo, Ivan.

Las Vegas Bottom 5th

Angel Chavez doubles (17) on a fly ball to right fielder Adam Pavkovich.
Ramon Martinez lines out to right fielder Adam Pavkovich.
Nomar Garciaparra singles on a line drive to left fielder Jordan Czarniecki. Angel Chavez scores.
Terry Tiffee grounds into double play, pitcher Giancarlo Alvarado to shortstop Brandon Wood to first baseman Matthew Brown. Nomar Garciaparra out at 2nd.

362 -- I think "Probably not" would be a legitimate answer if the question you asked was "Is Stults likely to throw another complete game shutout?" As for being capable of throwing another one, well, the fact that he just threw one makes it likely that he is CAPABLE of doing it again. Pitchers with less going for them than Stults throw complete game shutouts, and the fact that he is not a big strikeout guy means that enough balls are going to be put in play early in the count that he can eat a lot of innings while keeping his pitch count reasonable.

There is no doubt that Stults is a fly ball pitcher, but that is not a death sentence in the majors even without a high K rate. At most it limits his ceiling, but Stults' ceiling is not the subject of discussion and never has been. Stults has more pitches than Kershaw and better command and control of them than Kershaw has over his repetoire, and that instills more confidence in me for Stults than I have in Kershaw as a major league pitcher in 2008.

Fernando Viña just compared himself to Evan Longoria. I watch BBTN for moments like these.

Brewers with a runner on 2nd and one out in the 9th.

Cameron cashes in Branyan. 4-3 Brewers.

344 The injury situation is getting ridiculous. Six of the top 8 highest paid Dodgers (representing $72.44M of LA's 2008 payroll) are currently on the DL.

Short Chris Young robbed Joe Dillon of a 2-run homer (or maybe a double) to end the 9th.

Chris Young has robbed the Brewers of at least three runs in the past two innings.

Furcal is having back surgery... from Tony Jackson.

385
WOW! Breaking news....

Comment 385 meet comment 344

From Diamond: Rush RUSH RUSH!

Andruw Jones is swinging the bat well while testing his surgically repaired right knee at Class AAA Las Vegas and is feeling so good that he could come off the disabled list before the All-Star break and be activated as soon as Friday in San Francisco.

Jones had been tentatively scheduled to play 12 rehab games and return July 18, but is now looking to beat that date by a bunch after playing in the finale of tomorrow's four-game homestand in Las Vegas.

The Dodgers have a shortage of outfielders after Juan Pierre went down with knee injury himself earlier this week, so they might not mind.

"We haven't dismissed it," Manager Joe Torre said. "He feels he's ready to go. His stats are good."

1st and 2nd, one out for the DBacks. SCY at bat.

382 - would you feel better if it was 6 of the 8 lowest paid players on the roster? I'm not sure it really matters if you lose 6 of 25 players from the active roster, that's more than 20% of the ML roster.

5-3 DP to end the game.

Snakes led the NL West with a losing record.

1.5 back (I think) Brewers just won.

woot, woot!

1 1/2 BACK!

385

so it goes. You gotta wonder if the Dodger are gonna sign him now.

I heart baseball (minus the Furcal news, of course)

300

So I guess its just me...

after the ASB?

Kemp
Ethier
Martin
Kent
Loney
Jones
Laroche
DeJesus
Pitcher

????

382 - I think it's just to point out how snakebit this team has been. Actually prior to Kuroda being activated today, I thought the figure was closer to $80 million out of the $113 million plus team 2008 salary as listed on the sidebar that was sitting on the DL.

That included: A. Jones, Pierre, Furcal, Nomar, Penny, Kuroda, Schmidt and Torre's favorite reliever Proctor. You add those up and it's pretty darn close to $80 mil.

I dare any team to have that much high priced talent on the shelf collecting dust and be productive. It's amazing and lucky that we are in the division that's struggling this year. Most other divisions, we would be buried right now.

I just hope we don't sell ourselves out too much to get a SS via trade, other teams are going to expect a King's ransom.

How bout signing Chipper in 2010 to a short term deal to finish his career? Dodgers were his favorite team growing up.

397 - if DeJesus is playing, that likely means that Nomar got hurt again... and really, what are the odds of that? I am still figuring that the DeRoche gets a long run.

397

Kemp
Ethier
Martin
Kent
Loney
Jones
Laroche
DeJesus
Pitcher

Expect PVLs in those spots.

399 - no, no, no, no

if DeJesus is playing, that likely means that Nomar got hurt again...and really, what are the odds of that?

Haha.

Unless Braves management and Chipper Jones have a Tom Seaver-like falling out, I think Larry is spending his whole career in Atlanta.

If Dsfan is here,

I don't know if you responded but you said you have concerns about Dejesus' ability to stay at SS at the big league level and I asked how come?

I was hoping to get a response from you (if you did respond, please repost, i did not see it).

Thanks.

Speaking of Ivan Jr., he's been playing 2B lately.

it is definitely gonna be interesting to see how upper management handles this.

390 When you take a look at it, the team would most likely be much worse off if a number of its lowest-paid players were on the DL, since many of the team's best performers make a half-million or less.

398 Yeah, it's amazing how much bad fortune the Dodgers have had this year with respect to injuries. Even Juan Pierre isn't immune. He has many deficiencies as a ballplayer (as has been well-documented on this blog) but durability hasn't been one of them. Either Ned's the unluckiest GM in baseball or he just lacks good judgment when making spending decisions. Actually, the truth probably lies somewhere in between

DeJesus didn't have at AB in today's doubleheader.

Never mind. Didn't notice he played 2B.

Jack Wilson! Jack Wilson!

--

Oh well, you take the good (news), you take the bad (news), and there you have... the facts of the (Dodgers) life.

409 Yes he did - 2 for 4 in Game 2.

Hey, any of you who are in Sta Barbara, how's that fire above Goleta looking? My mom has me worried enough that maybe we shouldn't come down there tomorrow. Hope it spares the highway. I knew this was going to happen. I should have planned a holiday on a boat somewhere.

Neds style is not to trust youngsters so I will be disappointed but NOT surprised if he looks out ward instead of in house for a solution.

411

The Pirates are goona be asking for the moon...

Everyone's going to ask for the moon, and then some.

So then how does Pluto figure into the decision making?

So, what are the odds that we see this line up (or some variation thereof) on Opening Day 2009:

Kemp RF
Ethier LF
Martin C
Jones CF
Loney 1B
LaRoche 2B/3B
DeWitt 3B/2B
DeJesus SS
Pitcher

What are the odds of this one?

Kemp RF
Ethier LF
Martin SS
LaRoche 2B/3B
Loney 1B
Jones CF
DeWitt 3B/2B
May C

Penny's start on Saturday is off reports Gurnick. He needs another bullpen session.

Stults and Park go on the weekend.

418

If Colletti is still the GM, there is going to be a big money free agent signing somewhere in there...maybe rotation.

I was just thinking post ASB in 419.

LaRoche 2B/3B
DeWitt 3B/2B
DeJesus SS

Would this set the record for most number of surname prefixes in an infield?

Salt Lake Top 6th

Defensive Substitution: Wilkin Ruan replaces center fielder Andruw Jones, batting 4th, playing center field.

423 (or whatever the hell they're called).

419 DeJesus > May

In a landslide.

418

That looks like a good lineup, I've never seen DeJesus play though. I'll google him & see if I can find a scouting report.

419

May currently in AA

246/312/466

Good power but he's not going to get on base enough.

421 - Adam Dunn doesn't like baseball, so Colletti wouldn't want him. Ben Sheets seems most likely as super injury prone (35% of his pitches are curveballs!), yet also pretty good. Especially since I think Lowe's probably not going to stick around.

428 - All he needs is 2 weeks of a .410 BABIP in the majors.

third base and shortstop will now be called "LaDeJesus".

Las Vegas Bottom 7th

John-Ford Griffin singles on a ground ball to right fielder Adam Pavkovich.
Rene Rivera strikes out swinging.
Angel Chavez doubles (18) on a line drive to left fielder Jordan Czarniecki. John-Ford Griffin to 3rd.
Coaching visit to mound.
Pitcher Change: Kasey Olenberger replaces Giancarlo Alvarado.
Ramon Martinez walks.
Offensive Substitution: Pinch hitter Kelly Gulledge replaces Nomar Garciaparra.

429

I like Sheets...but so do back injurues.

425
I would call them compound surnames. Even though they are just compounding a preposition and a noun.

"Of Rock"
"From Witt"
"From Jesus"

433 - Nomar's contract is up after this season. Stan Conte will need more work.

435

He still has Jason Schmidt!

yeah, I wasn't expecting that the line up I put out there in 418 is actually going to happen unless it is forced on Colletti. But I'd still like to see that line up, particularly with LaDeJesus

405 I'm not Dsfan, but the thing I see that could be a problem with DeJesus is that his offense is so walk dependent. Major league pitchers have better controll than AA and would challenge a singles and walk guy like DeJesus. He'd still draw a god number of walks I'm sure but not enough to compensate for few hits and almost none for extra bases.

438 - I've never seen him play, so I ask this in all honesty: why doesn't DeJesus get extra base hits? Is it a mechanics thing?

438

I think he was talking defensively. He said he doesn't think Dejesus could stick at SS in the majors, which I assumed meant defensively.

I've heard the argument about his offense though.

439 I don't even know what he looks like. It may be a strength thing or his approach at the plate.

NPUT

I really doubt lightning will strike twice [DeWitt] but I'd rather have an in house solution than a quick fix mess up.

Panic moves = bad moves...

438 Brett Butler had himself a nice career with a career sub .400 SLG. Not saying DeJesus is Butler, but being a walk/singles hitter isn't a complete death sentence.