Baseball Toaster: Dodger Thoughts : Go Ahead, Make Me Nervous

Go Ahead, Make Me Nervous

2006-05-29 21:12

by Jon Weisman

This is the kind of stuff that drives me batty with Eric Gagne. From Patrick Donnelly at MLB.com:

Gagne wasn't especially pleased with his control and inability to hit his spots on Monday, but he said that was mostly due to the condition of the mound after it had baked in the sun for three hours.

"It was a little dryer than I expected," he said. "The whole thing mechanically was weird, just because I couldn't land my foot. Usually I'm on the right side of the rubber - the first-base side - and I wanted to stay there. I didn't want to go to the other side.

"It was just a bad landing - it happens a lot of places, especially during day games because it gets so dry. There was just a hole where I wanted to land, so I was landing on the side of the hill. It's awkward but you've got to deal with it."

Sure, I'm oversensitive. I'm oversensitive because Gagne messed up his body at least in part by fooling with his mechanics. So he can tell me it's no big deal and I can hope he's right, but there is nothing fun about hearing "couldn't land my foot" and "I didn't want to go to the other side" and "bad landing" and "a hole where I wanted to land" and "awkward."

(Earlier: "Getting a Save Situation for Gagne the Hard Way")

Comments

2006-05-29 21:25:01

1. Greg Brock

As much as I love Gagne, I think I speak for all Dodger fans when I say "Call me when he pitches 25 pain-free innings in the majors." Until then, he is just a pipe dream. And it pains me to say it.

2006-05-29 21:37:22

2. capdodger

I think you might be being a touch oversensitive. This case is somewhat different than the "adjustment" Gange made to compensate for his injured knee. This was a compensation for a bad AAA mound, and there is no (public) complaint of pain. On a different mound on a different day, this adjustment doesn't occur.

That said, why Gange didn't call the groundscrew out to fill the hole, or do it himself is beyond me.

2006-05-29 21:39:51

3. Jon Weisman

2 - I admit right up front I'm oversensitive. But he's always slow to publicly admit pain, so that's no comfort. And why not call someone to improve the conditions - it's not like people wouldn't understand for a rehabing player.

2006-05-29 21:42:18

4. JoeyP

I've conditioned myself to not expect Gagne 03-04 levels. But I do hope he doesnt get shelled. That would be sad in a sort of "Barry Bonds now hits .220 and has warning track power" way.

2006-05-29 22:35:19

5. natepurcell

The Hochevar is in less then 24 hours. Hope is faint, but there is still hope!

2006-05-29 22:50:36

6. Greg Brock

Screw Hochevar...No offense Nate, but that Boras robot had his chance. Good luck with the D'Backs Luke...And learn how to bend your lid, you moron.

2006-05-29 22:54:56

7. Greg Brock

Note to Hochevar and all other college pitchers...Bend your damn lid...We make our Varsity team do a hundred divebacks for wearing their hats like Tony Hawk wannabes...Yes, I'm looking at you, Jered Weaver.

2006-05-29 23:12:47

8. ToyCannon

Control freak

2006-05-29 23:30:24

9. StolenMonkey86

I'm more concerned about his velocity than anything else. I want to see him at least hit 95 regularly on the fastball, and I hope major league adrenaline can do that. Adding the slider might buy time while he continues to strengthen his arm. One thing I like about Gagne is how he really cares about helping the team win, so I can see him working to get some more velocity back.

And Greg Brock, forget the innings, I'll be sold when I see him strike out the side. If he's not dominant, that's just no good.

2006-05-29 23:45:19

10. Uncle Miltie

Screw Hochevar...No offense Nate, but that Boras robot had his chance. Good luck with the D'Backs Luke...And learn how to bend your lid, you moron.
Couldn't agree with you more. He turned down almost $3 million because he wanted an extra million. He must not be confident in his ability because the money is made when you make it to the majors, not from your signing bonus. While I'm not rooting for him to fail, I wouldn't be upset if he doesn't get half of what we offered to him and never makes it to the majors. I can guarantee you that Luke will get J.D. Drew treatment in LA if he ever makes it to the majors.

2006-05-29 23:48:55

11. regfairfield

10 So anyone who wants a big signing bonus must be bad?

This is a huge mistake for the Dodgers if they can justify spending nine million on Tomko but can't pay for Hochevar.

2006-05-29 23:49:35

12. Uncle Miltie

Has anyone heard of Gnarls Barkley? My friend just sent me a song by them called crazy. I'm more into punk but for some reason I'm now addicted to listening to this song. What kind of group are they? How popular are they?

2006-05-29 23:58:53

13. natepurcell

Mets didnt sign Pedro Beato and hes going back into the draft. BA's rated him as a top 15 talent.

2006-05-30 00:37:12

14. Bob Timmermann

10
I think the average fan at Dodger Stadium won't have the slightest idea who Luke Hochevar is if he makes it to the majors for another team.

2006-05-30 00:45:50

15. JoeyP

This is a huge mistake for the Dodgers if they can justify spending nine million on Tomko but can't pay for Hochevar.

I dont think you can look at it like that.
Spending 9 million on Tomko is a mistake on its own accord. There's no justification for that.

However, not offering Hochevar what he wants isnt a mistake. If anything, its smart management. If the Dodgers succumb to every player that holds out, what kind of bargaining position are they going to have for the future?

2006-05-30 00:53:44

16. alexx

12
Gnarls Barkley is made up of Cee-lo and DJ Danger Mouse. I would say they are indie rock/hip hop. Seems like there is a lot of that sort of music these days: TV on the Radio, Gorillaz even? I have heard them on the mainsteam rock radio station in the Bay Area, so they must be at least fairly popular. They refuse to discuss how they came up with their band name.

2006-05-30 00:59:11

17. regfairfield

15 Given the price of starting pitching, four million for someone who as a decent chance at becoming a solid starter isn't a bad deal.

I'm not saying succumb to every player that holds out, just give the good ones what they are worth.

2006-05-30 01:03:43

18. bhsportsguy

5 - If Ned and Logan are planning to sign Hochevar, they are doing their best to hide it.

From Tuesday's LA Times

Boras is convinced another team will pay Hochevar what he wants after he goes back in the draft June 6. He says he believes there is a premium for college players projected to make the major leagues quickly.

"We've put that tag on about 12 guys in the 20 years I've been in this business, and in every case, the player has turned out the way we thought he would," Boras said. "I realize this applies to only 1% of players, but we've demonstrated that when we put this tag on a player, he excels in the big leagues, and he usually gets here in less than a year, and we felt Luke fell into this class."

http://tinyurl.com/pmzun

Also, today's notes also say that Matt Kemp is sitting out today and Ethier will start in left and Lofton in center, I assume that means that Drew will be in right.

2006-05-30 02:08:58

19. dbenzen

Am I the only guy noticing that the "weak" western NL division is the only one where all the teams are over .500?

Also, am I the only one who gets it that Gagne is no longer the only answer for the Dodger 9th?

2006-05-30 02:26:29

20. regfairfield

19 This was a division where Colorado was leading a week ago.

Give the standings some time to normalize. Right now Detroit is the best team in baseball, Oakland is five games below .500 and Cincinatti isn't contending with Pittsburgh for the cellar of the AL central. The season's only a third over, and by the time it's done, the crappy teams in this division should be where they belong.

2006-05-30 04:01:28

21. Suffering Bruin

First line of Plaschke: He wanted to pump his fist. You just know he wanted to pump his fist.

Double entendre: a word or expression capable of two interpretations with one usually risqué. I'm not a dirty-minded guyd for seeing this, right? I'm not the only one snickering?

2006-05-30 05:27:04

22. das411

14 - Yeah seriously, plus there's no way that LA stadium ushers will let people sneak in batteries and stuff to throw at JD...er, Hochevar, the way some other cities do.

20 - Sounds an awful lot like last year around this time, when the Orioles, Nats, and those total fluke White Sox were all playing waaaaay over their heads. . .

Btw the Myspace contingent on here definitely need to check these out: http://www.myspace.com/salfasano13 and/or

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=69772283

2006-05-30 05:56:08

23. Jon Weisman

19 - No, I've mentioned the NL West rebound in my posts as well as on SI.com a few times, and other writers here and around the country as well as commenters here have mentioned it here as well.

2006-05-30 06:22:57

24. D4P

I got my one and only pitching appearance in 8th grade on a mound that had a huge hole where you planted your front foot when throwing a pitch. I can sympathize with Eric on this one. It sucked.