Andy LaRoche has just started his rehabilitation assignment and is not due to be healthy until May.

May 1 is next Thursday!

1. Do the Dodgers have to wait 10 days from when DeWitt went down to the minors to call him back up? If so, when would that date be.

2. Do the Dodgers have a history of skipping their 5th starter? Some teams don't do that.

vr, Xei

2 1. No, not if he is called up because of someone going on the DL.
2. Normally, I would say no but since the starters are not going deep into games, they probably like the options of having the 5th starter(s) available for middle relief. And this is Torre's call now anyway.

3. Thanks. I highly doubt the 5th starter would be skipped on all those days. Just my 2 cents. vr, Xei

It's too bad that the Dodgers had to burn an option on DeWitt only to have him in the minors for one day. Hindsight is 20/20, but you had to be uncomfortable with Nomar as the only "real" 3rd baseman.

I think they should have released Sweeney. It seems like his parting with the club is a matter of when and not if. They could have sent DeWitt back when LaRoche comes back. What are the odds that both Nomar and LaRoche will get injured at the same time? Wait, check that. What are the odds that they will both get injured again at the same time?

Sweeney is a proven clutch pinch hitter. He has started slow but Torre will work him into the lineup to get his timing going.

5

Anyone know how many options Dewitt has left?

There's probably some comment can be made about Joe not knowing Nomar's history of injury, but Vegas is just a hop skip and a jump from Chavez Ravine. Facing facts, Nomar's days of being an everyday player are over, he's just not that durable any more.

5 I think this year's option is used regardless of how many times they may send him down to the minors.

Facing facts, Nomar's days of being an everyday player are over, he's just not that durable any more

Not only that, but he's not good enough to be an everyday player anyway. You'd think Management would have recognized that by now.

Options are done on an annual basis.

I think that the current Dodgers are more likely to skip a fifth starter because when that fifth starter can't be counted on to pitch more than a few innings, it becomes almost self-defeating to use him, as opposed to having him available to help the other starters.

9

Nomar's bat is wanted in the lineup, he's what passes for power on the Ned C. constructed Dodgers. Gonzo is actually swinging the bat pretty darn well for the Fish this year coming off the bench. Shame he would have been the 5th outfielder in a very crowed roster.

11 Even Colletti can't be that dense. Nomar's power has been gone for a very long time by now.

Kemp passes for power. Kent too, on this squad.

No real back-up for Martin worries me. Is Paul Bako the regular catcher in Cincinnati? I wonder if we could give them some spare parts for David Ross; that makes more sense than getting Juan Castro.

Sweeney is a proven clutch pinch hitter. He has started slow but Torre will work him into the lineup to get his timing going.

It was mentioned in a previous thread that it would be nice to get Young in the lineup to get his timing going. I agree. Young has actually raised his average over the last week or so. It would be nice to see him him in a few games, especially now that Jones is hurting. I'd like to see an outfiled of Young-Kemp-Ethier for a few games.

Nice foreshadowing early in the first game thread:

27. KG16 2008-04-25 19:43:51
question: does a sac fly count as a walk off hit?

One thing i wanted to mention concerning Kemps lack of power this year is something I've noticed over the last few days. His bat looks extremely slow going through the zone, especially when comparing it to last year. That also could be an explanation of why he cannot hit a fastball this year and his raking against offspeed pitches. One of Kemp's best attributes was the bat speed and torque he generated from a pretty simple swing. He would really let loose with his hands and bring them through the zone really quickly. This year, his hands dont appear to be leading his swing as much and that is leading to a much slower motion through the zone. This year he is also making much less hard contact, especially because of his lack of ability to hit a fastball. I really hope he can fix this because even now he has enough power to hit balls out, but he needs to use his hands more and more quickly to become the real bison.

His bat looks extremely slow going through the zone, especially when comparing it to last year

Maybe his weight loss sapped some of his power.

7
Anyone know how many options Dewitt has left?

As mentioned before, options are used on an annual basis -- option years, if you will. Since DeWitt was sent down, 2008 is one option year and will continue to be so no matter how many times DeWitt gets sent down to the minors.

DeWitt was just placed on the 40-man roster this offseason, so this is the first of his three option years.

The option years don't have to be consecutive. For instance, Brazoban had an option year left this season because he had only been sent to the minors in two other (non consecutive) years, 2004 & 2007.

Once a player has five years major league service time, he must give consent to be sent to the minors even if he has an option left. For instance, Joe Beimel has an option left (only used in 2004 & 2005) but since he has just over 5 years service time he cannot be sent down without his consent.

6 Mark Sweeney, per baseball-reference.com:
.258 .350 .396 2039 PA, Career overall
.266 .359 .396 723, As a PH
.255 .404 .349 265, 2 Out RISP
.250 .356 .352 524, Late and Close
.260 .360 .410 444, Tie Game
.277 .388 .383 594, RISP

I'd say he's really consistent and his performance doesn't seem to suffer in "clutch" situations, but it doesn't seem to elevate either. He's a proven non-choker. (Which might be all a team can ask for.)

Chan Ho Park had a Beimelian 4 assists in 3 innings last night. I wonder what the record is for assists by a reliever in a single game. On Baseball-Reference.com, you can search for specific batting and pitching games, but alas not fielding.

Not that I would ever root for a Nomar injury, but it sounds like he might still be hurt 2-3 weeks from now. Which would allow LaRoche, assuming he progresses on schedule with his minors rehab, the opportunity to smoothly transition back to the starting job.

Now, that was a weird game. I fell asleep on the couch for nearly an hour, then woke up to see Saito blow the save on Bennett's inability to hold his glove the correct way and ended up staying up for the extra innnings.

My biggest question from that whole weird series of events is what was Pierre still doing on 1st base two outs after getting walked. Hu bunting? Are you kidding me? Isn't base stealing the whole point of having Pierre. And like every announcer loves to discuss, a true base stealer is the one who can swipe a bag when the whole stadium knows he's going. So go. I don't put that one Pierre but Torre, he seemed to have a string of bad decisions in those last four innnings.

Other random, half asleep thoughts from last night's game.

Jimenez looks like the human incarnation of Jar Jar Binks.

At some point, one of the Dodgers' pitchers is going to lose their patience with Bennett and just scream "throw me the #$%^&ing ball". It really is an absurd situation. You're a major league catcher for god sakes throw the ball back to the pitcher on a line not a looping arc.

I know he's not highly revered around here, but I like Nomar and think he's been swinging the bat well since coming back from his injury. Not a lot of power obviously, but he's been spraying line drives across the outfield. But it's really apparent that he's no 3rd basemen at this point in his career. Putting aside his fragility and lack of durability, he just can't make plays at 3rd. Which essentially means, there's no place for him on this team. The only role where he may be an upgrade over someone currently on the squad is Sweeney; Nomar could become a solid pinch hitter and would be a slightly more useful utility infielder than Sweeney. If he is with the team in September, my guess is that's what his position will be.

I like Nomar and think he's been swinging the bat well since coming back from his injury

This myth (which I suspect Management also subscribes to) must be busted.

Nomar's season:
.226/.314/.323/.637

Nomar's last 7 days:
.208/.269/.333/.602

It's amazing what a few RBI-singles (when you're batting 3rd or 4th in the lineup) will do for your reputation.

Interesting quote from Russell Martin on Nomar in the LA Times story:

"That's tough," Martin said. "Nomar was starting to swing the bat real well. He's the best hitter I've ever played with. Hopefully it's not too bad."

http://tinyurl.com/66g7dx

Does Jeff Kent know about this?

Nomar was starting to swing the bat real well

I quit.

Obviously it's still early and sample size issues apply, but the Dodger offense is starting to round into form (outside of Andruw, who rounded into form in the offseason).

In February, Dodger Thoughts commenters collectively projected an .800 OPS from 7 of the 8 Dodger regulars, with a .780 from Furcal. Last year, a .800 OPS at Dodger Stadium was roughly in the 100-105 OPS+ range.

Here are the Dodger OPS+ for the regulars thus far:

Martin 115
Loney 99
Kent 112
DeWitt 84
Furcal 174
Ethier 131
Jones 41
Kemp 95

Outisde of Andruw's awful start, the collective performance of the regulars above has been pretty much in line with expectations.

Dodger subs (which includes a healthy dose of Kemp, but is mostly the bench) have hit a putrid .230/.266/.279 thus far.

Factor in some improvement from Andruw and the bench, mixed in with a healthy LaRoche, and I still contend this is at least in 800 run team.

Did you guys read about this...Shark attack in Solano Beach

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/25/ca.shark.attack/index.html?section=cnn_latest

24
That quote jumped out at me as well. Maybe Martin meant career. Nomar's OPS+ for his career is 125, slightly above Kent's 124.

Of course, Loney is sitting at 125 as well! :)

Have we even won 2 games in a row all year?

29
Yes, but not 3 or more.

Not that I would ever root for a Nomar injury..."

Sure you would. I would. I am. So are you.

Own up to it, man!

23 To be fair, those are very small sample sizes, 35 and 27 PAs. (B-R has his last seven days as .240 .296 .360 .654.) So small that two outs changed to singles make a big difference. I know I could easily had one on the play Stephen Drew made and turned into a GIDP, and I've seen at least one well-struck line-drive out. If those two are singles, the season line becomes .290 .371 .387 .758 and we are left to complain only about the lack of power that is an on-going concern, of course.

I'm glad the Dodgers could recall DeWitt. I was confused about the rules on that waiting period thing, too. It was either him or Terry Tiffee (actually a few games of Tiffee wouldn't have bothered me all that much.) But I was two weeks off in the Nomar Goes to the DL Pool. Anyone have today?

20 "Chan Ho Park had a Beimelian 4 assists in 3 innings last night."
Shhh! Don't tell Troy From WV.

I'm glad to hear Schmidt's on the upswing. I'd like to see either him - or the Minotaur - be our 5th starter in a month. I don't mind having Loiaza or Park as our long reliever, but given they each have pretty much a guarantee of one really bad inning as a starter, I'd have more faith in someone else.
So win today Dodgers to be safe!

I wouldn't be too surprised if the Dodgers win 3 in a row against the Rockies. Penny should provide a good chance to win tonight, and even though Loaiza's pitching tomorrow, he's actually been better this season than his opponent (Francis).

First 3 game-winning streak and first series sweep, coming up.

32
But couldn't you just as easily turn some of his hits into outs...?

27 That shark attack was tragic and awful, heard about it yesterday.

I will say it's a good time to watch the doc "Sharkwater" though before people dust off their shark-huntin' gear.

Nomar seems to have been injured since 2003. It's just a matter of to what degree.

A win streak would be nice just to get me into the year more. Right now I am as indifferent about this team as any dodger team since I have been around Dodger Thoughts.

34 I forgot. You're the one who doesn't believe in the jinx. I envy you. I'll also blame you if they don't sweep, if that's okay with you.

37 Really? This is actually the team I've cared about the most, since many of my favorite farm prospects are now regulars, and a few more are coming. And I like the manager better than the last two. It makes it more emotionally painful, then, when they stink, but I am less indifferent about this team than any other of the past 4-5 years. To each their own, I guess!

Okay, time to prepare for the NFL Draft. And then the SFIFF. Cheers all.

Sharkwater was awesome.

I'll also blame you if they don't sweep, if that's okay with you

What's in it for me if they do...?

28 And Martin was here for the good Nomar of (part of) 2006 that was a 120 OPS+ overall, with 160 for the first half. Kent has been about 120 when Martin has been a major-leaguer and probably did not have any prolonged period (that I recall) to match Nomar's first half 2006, which was quite impressive.

Kershaw last 3 games:

17.2IP
1 earned run
0 homeruns
6 walks
19 ks

20 yrs old.

41 The joy of knowing you were right enough to counteract the jinx? A Joe Torre Bobblehead? A Gary Bennett rookie baseball card?

40 Didn't it make you want to kill that shark fin soup salesman?

A Gary Bennett rookie baseball card?

I don't think Gary was ever a rookie. He went straight to washed-up veteran backup catcher.

35 Do you remember any cheap hits?

From the Hardball Times, Nomar this year:

LD% BA/BIP GB% IF/F HR/F BA/RISP
26.7% .207 43.3% 22.2% 10.3% .300

Just as comparison points, Albert Pujol's highest LD% 2004 - present is 20.3%, Miguel Cabrera's is 24.3%

Nomar does seem to have hit the ball hard this season, but popup a lot.

I don't think anyone in the organization believed Nomar was the best option at 3B. They thought he was serviceable but very marketable as the face of the franchise.

44 There are so many repulsive scenes in that movie.

well trainwreck it's looking like C Long will be 2, M Ryan at 3, so Dorsey falls to us. Word is though that the Raiders want Mcfadden. I think if Al makes the pick it's Mcfadden, if it's Kiffin making the pick it is Dorsey. What's your gut telling you will happen.

20
I doubt that assists by a pitcher while relieving is a stat that is tracked.

The most assists for any pitcher in a 9-inng game is 11 and that's been done seven times and last done in 1941 by Rip Sewell.

That's the only non-Deadball Era instance of that. All the others are from the T. Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson Administrations.

If the Raiders select McFadden over Dorsey, I am going to be one angry panda.

It will be nice to have DeWitt back.

I doubt that assists by a pitcher while relieving is a stat that is tracked

Enter the Timmer-mann.

52
It would be really hard to do. People would have to look through sheaves of daily totals, not all of them have been digitized and indexed.

I would assume a Deaball Era pitcher came in to relieve a game when a starter got hurt and picked up 8 or 9 assists.

Johnny Dawkins will be taking over at Stanford it appears. Can he duplicate the Trent Johnson Sour Face look?

49
The gut always tells me the Raiders will disappoint me in the draft, so we will take McFadden.

54
Stanford fans must hope his evaluating skills become better than what they have been lately for Duke.

49 I've seen lots of talk the Falcons will take Dorsey if he falls to them.

51 I think I would rather have McFadden over Ellis though. I'm a little uneasy about USC defensive tackles. If we traded down and still got Ellis then maybe. If we take McFadden, that will be a pretty sweet backfield. I am concerned about McFadden's ability to hold onto the football.

Should the Rams take Long or Dorsey?

PS: The answer to 59 is not "Yes".

57 true, if Dorsey is available at 3 then I think it will cause them to pause, but it still sounds like they will take Matt Ryan. Should both Long and Dorsey be gone when the Raiders pick then I say take McFadden or trade down. I pray they don't take Gohlston. My gut says he will be average at best.

Nevermind.

the St. Louis Rams have decided to take Chris Long with the No. 2 pick, according to ESPN.com's Michael Smith.

Smith reported on Saturday morning on ESPN that according to team sources, the Rams will select Virginia defensive end Chris Long, son of Hall of Fame defensive end Howie Long.

59 Both. Either. They need help in both spots. They've had such bad luck with high DT picks, I'd go for the safer pick in Long at DE, and then pick a DT in a later round.

62 I'll believe it when I see it really happen.

Which player has the best chance of not being very good? The Rams should pick that player.

Chris Long is a good pick.

Although he is no Jared Allen.

62 I think it's pretty certain the Rams are taking Long. The only other scenario I see is them trading the pick.

65
McFadden or Gholston are the boom or bust picks. So obviously Al Davis wants them instead of being sensible.

and McFadden is no Adrian Peterson despite what some moron analysts say.

anyone think McFadden will come close to what AP did last year

McFadden will lead the league in fumbles.

!!!!

70 ha, were you reading my mind

I want Dorsey for the Rams because DT said that's who I should want when I asked 9 months ago.

The Chiefs need to take Dorsey if he falls to 5 to them. I could see them trading down but they already have the 17th pick, they need the premium player.

I want Long because Mel says I should.

71
McFadden is like Bush. He can only run in space. If he gets hit low at all, he will go to the ground.

Peterson is a running back you can just keep handing the ball to for the next five years.

Is the draft starting later this year then normal? I swear I thought it started at 10am PT in past years.

my concern with AP when he came out was injuries. He always seemed to suffer some fluke type injury. no doubt he is one of the most talented backs around, but I doubt he'll ever play an entire season.

I think Mendenhall is the best RB in this draft. That dude is an absolute beast.

78 yeah, I was expecting to see it at 9 pst this morning, but it's pushed back to 12. Not sure why the change.

79

Eat your words!

78
Yeah it is, because they made it shorter.

81

its ruined my whole sports day.

I had it all planned :(

79
Have you seen McFadden's legs? It looks like they will break upon contact.

they made it shorter

Hallelujah.

Wow, that would be an interesting trade.

Suggs and 10th for the Rams 2nd?

I think Ravens might have to include a 3rd or something.

80 I love J Stewart, but I'm concerned about him holding up as well. He's tough no doubt, but he always has an ankle injury it seems. Last year the toe.

The NFL Network's website says they were having a 4-hour PRE-DRAFT show. So why do they have this show when, presumably, they had nothing else to talk about since February except the draft?

89

You just don't understand Bob.

89
They have. NFL Network has plenty of time to fill.

89
Speaking of which, what does Mel Kiper Jr. do for the other 364 days of the year...?

85 honestly not very much. I saw a whole lot of AP. AP never looked like he was an injury waiting to happen, it just seemed he was always hurt.

They had free agency to take about. That ate up a lot of time.

So this guy on the Verizon commercial...thats Goldberg from Mighty Ducks right?

He lost like 150lbs.

At the NFL Owners meeting in October 2007, they made these changes, the time between picks in the first round will be cut from 15 minutes to 10 to help speed up a process that went a record 6 hours and 8 minutes last April, starting time was also moved from noon EDT to 3 p.m. for the first day, which will be limited to two rounds instead of three, the time limit for second-round choices was also cut, from 10 minutes to seven.

Picks in the final five rounds, which will take place on the second day of the draft, will continue to be five minutes apart.

92
Scout and gel his hair.

92

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