Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
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TV and more ...
1) using profanity or any euphemisms for profanity
2) personally attacking other commenters
3) baiting other commenters
4) arguing for the sake of arguing
5) discussing politics
6) using hyperbole when something less will suffice
7) using sarcasm in a way that can be misinterpreted negatively
8) making the same point over and over again
9) typing "no-hitter" or "perfect game" to describe either in progress
10) being annoyed by the existence of this list
11) commenting under the obvious influence
12) claiming your opinion isn't allowed when it's just being disagreed with
| From the Dodger press notes:
Last night, all six of the Dodger RBI came with two out and runners in scoring position. ... Los Angeles is hitting .283 (77-for-272) in those situations, which is tied with Pittsburgh and trails only St. Louis (.288) in the NL this season. |
| To further explore the Dodgers' 2008 hitting with runners on base, click this Baseball-Reference.com link. Some of what you'll find is mixed; in any case, sample-size caveats apply throughout. |
... Despite being better according to both simple and advanced stats, Joe Torre refuses to use Kuo at all. Since splitting a start with Chan Ho on May 17th, Kuo has made just three appearances, once when down 4-0 against the Cardinals, down 6-3 against the Mets, and down 6-1 against the Mets again. In that same timespan, Scott Proctor, by far the least effective Dodger reliever this year, has appeared nine times, three times in medium to high leverage situations. Chan Ho Park has appeared six times, four of them in high leverage situations.
Even though Kuo is third on the team in ERA and leads Chan Ho and Proctor in every pitching category from ERA to walk rate to WHIP, Kuo is the one relegated to mop up duty while the latter is being used while the outcome of the game is still in still in doubt. The entire year, Kuo has only faced 20 batters in high leverage situations, versus 52 in medium leverage and 80 in low leverage. Kuo is our third best reliever according to FIP but he's rarely, if ever used when the game actually matters.
What's even more bizarre is that Joe Torre's low opinion of Kuo seems based on one start, where he allowed five runs in 3.2 innings. After that start, Kuo was removed from the rotation, and has only pitched eight times since, twice in high leverage situations. This is completely insane behavior because outside of that outing, Kuo has pitched 33.2 innings, and allowed three runs. We have a lefty who can strikeout over a batter an inning, and he's been relegated to Scott Erickson status seemingly entirely because of one bad start. ...
6th in the NL in SLG "in those situations", and last in the NL in IsoP.
There was no reason any sane person would bring Scott Proctor in during the 6th inning last night.
At first I thought they were saving Kuo for when Kershaw starts, making the assumption that Kershaw couldn't go particularly deep. But that is clearly not the case at this point.
Curious and curiouser...
Surging?
Now, you really can't surge downward. It comes from an Old French word meaning "to rise."
Hopefully the Dodger beat writers will soon cease to be in awe of Torre and begin to ask him the tough (and relevant) questions.
Broxton actually bunted into a DP and it took a great play from Adrian Gonzalez combined with Broxton's three-toed sloth like speed to make it a DP.
"you went from the dude in oceans eleven playing SS for you guys, to bobby rayburn."
In all his years as a manager, Torre hasn't learned that the batting order is a vehicle for distributing playing time, not for emphasizing speed and power... whatever managerial genius Torre possesses has failed to manifest itself in his approaches to the Dodgers' problems.
I guess all the managers need to be sent to Carousel.
Like this kid? http://tinyurl.com/4gatk5
Kuo seems to need more time off between appearances than the average reliever, making it slightly trickier managing his usage... which begs the question, why the heck doesn't he start him?
"I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination and in an effort to maintain the integrity of the academy organization, I withdrew my name from contention," she tells Gold Derby. "In addition, I did not want to potentially take away an opportunity from an actress who was given such materials."
http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2008/06/katherine-heigl.html
Perhaps she should just submit material from "27 Dresses" and see if anyone notices the difference.
Grey's Anatomy was de-DVR'd two seasons ago.
She is so hot.
You could see this most clearly when he would choose to start Park or Loaiza because "having a second lefty in the bullpen is invaluable." I said then that this reminded me of Tracy and Choi and I think it has borne out.
It is really very disappointing that a farm system that lucked into a bunch of winners is going to be completely wasted by incompetence in management (and ownership) both in the front office and on the field.
In 2004 I was convinced that 2008 would start a Dodger Dynasty. Now I believe we will be lucky to see more than a couple pennants. There are two superior organizations (Az and SD) in our division. Overtime that is going to matter more than anything else.
That non-double switch last night with Broxton was kind of baffling. Is there a site that tracks double switches made by managers?
She was in Knocked Up!!!
and... 34
Ohhhh, yeah. Remember when "My Father the Hero" came out? I was only 12, but I thought she was hot then. Thankfully I was only 12, otherwise there'd have been some problems :-)
I'd be inclined to agree, but she's still hot. How'd you find that out, delias?
Seriously, taking a shot at the writers is not a smart move and lacks tact and class.
Its a definite misuse of him, but as long as the Dodgers starters work deep into the game, you're not going to see Kuo bc Torre doesnt see him as a traditional 1 inning high leverage guy.
To Torre, he's just a really good mop up man.
That does lower her overall hotness grade but she's still hot.
One can "updive" though
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Updive&r=66
As a Scrabble nerd, I know that an "ai" is the term for a three-toed sloth:
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=ai&x=0&y=0
"Surging": for this team, 3 out 4 is a surge.
Torre needs to prioritize that it is better to use your best relievers in high leverage spots, rather than just keep them out for fear that the next day he wont have anyone that can pitch when the is down 8-1 in the 4th. If its 8-1, who really cares who pitches at that point?
Ai is also the name of a Japanese restaurant by my home.
I've also learned that you can use "luau", but not "heiau."
And "soyuz" is acceptable and that's just not right.
She was Steven Seagal's niece in 1995's "Under Siege 2" ....
who knew what was ahead for her ...
Sounds like most of the other DT readers have Heigl in their fantasy leagues ...
hey .... its good enough for Andruw ....
I was wrong.
I don't buy, at all, the notion that being used once every ten days in long relief is the only way to keep Kuo from getting injured. But even if that were true, why would you go out of your way to use him only in blowout games, instead of once a week in a situation that matters? Do the numbers on the scoreboard make him more prone to injury as well?
He will fill in at shortstop for the Swallows when their regular shortstop goes to play in the Olympics.
I believe all 12 Japanese teams have to contribute two players to the Olympic team, which will be managed by Burning Hat Hoshino.
First is probably the "safe" pick.
Bob's weaknesses:
1) Evaluating baseball prospects
2) Plumbing
3) Meeting strangers at big social gatherings
Bob's strengths:
1) Catcher's interference calls
2) Stealing his neighbor's wifi signal
3) Giving cats pills
High Leverage is a value over 1.5 (20% of plays). Medium is 0.7 to 1.5 (about 40% of plays). Low is less than 0.7 (about 40% of plays)
http://www.baseball-reference.com/about/wpa.shtml
According to the same, Proctor has come into 4 tied games, 1 with a one-run lead, 7 with a one-run deficit.
Kuo has pitched in three games (totaling 7 1/3 innings) since May 17, none of them with a margin of fewer than four runs when he entered.
The reason you don't want a guy getting hurt is because he's useless to your team while he's hurt, right? So the Dodgers' solution to that is: make him useless to your team anyway, so he can't become useless to your team by getting hurt. It doesn't make any sense.
The thing to do with Kuo is just let him pitch. If he gets hurt, he gets hurt. At least you've gotten whatever value you can out of him.
I don't get the notion that letting him pitch like a normal pitcher will automatically result in an injury. That's an idea shaped much more by frustration over the past than by what's likely to happen in the future.
http://tinyurl.com/49abku
Dynamic and Dramatic!
I picked it because Torre is probably still concerned about his throwing hand.
If Chan Ho continues to be lucky for a few more weeks and Kuo is able to remain healthy to assume a more prominent role later in the year in the event of an injury or the clock striking midnight on Chan Ho, I can live with that.
Wilson's new team is off to a 25-32 start. And they aren't in last because Yokohama is an abhorrent 16-41.
Hanshin is dominating the Central League this year, playing .690 ball and leading by 8 1/2 games over defending champ Chunichi.
Or you could just figure out why my signal in my apartment goes out from time to time for no reason.
and it's popped up for a double play.
Clearly, the younger Dodgers have not reached their most productive ages and until they do, we all know they are now less than they will be. We don't need anybody from the Dodger organization saying anything about their weaknesses. They should be saying how well they are already performing and are excited about what lies ahead for each and all of their young talent.
Then, Jeff Kent, Normar, Jones, Torre, Colletti should admit that the older more experienced players have not been able to add sufficient production into the mix of younger players so far to get the Dodgers over the hump and into a winning record.
This is what Colletti should be saying: We have great pitching and our younger players are already turning valuable experience into making the Dodgers a better team. If our veteran players begin to produce more than they have to date, we expect to start winning a much higher percentage of our games.
If we do not start winning at least 55% of our games, we are willing to make changes this year and those changes will be looking forward and not backwards. Looking forward means we will put this team in the hands of our promising younger players and the older players will have to step aside.
We need more clubhouse leadership and we realize it is difficult for veteran players to give this leadership if they are not performing adequately and we realize it is difficult for a younger player to step up in a leadership role when there are veteran players intimidating them.
If we make trades it will be for young players on the rise and not for higher priced veterans, the latter of which has not provided the success we were hoping for.
If we don't start winning the players on the hot seat are: Jones, Furcal, Schmidt, Pierre, Nomar, Penny, Lowe, and Kent.
Greatest UCLA football player ever?
Or Jerry Robinson.
Or John Sciarra.
I am not arguing the merits of starting LaRoche, more a curiosity about the higher numbers posted by DeWitt against lefties.
My question is, does this represent a small sample size (46AB)? Or is it because he is new to pitchers and therefore they haven't figured him out? Or is it possible that, although it is not the norm, a person could be a better hitter against same handed pitching?
I just clicked on the "odds" link at Yahoo Sports.
The solution seems to be sticking a pen in the reset button on the base station.
Do you remember him cheating?
Couldn't all the people on that show say the same thing?
Honestly, what is she trying to accomplish with that comment? If you hate the role and type of character you play, move on at this point. Although, now I wonder if she is under contract and hates the type of character they have turned her into, so now I have more respect for her since I started this comment.
I'll be offline for a few minutes.
Yuniesky Betancourt?
Yep, for Berroa. Make it happen. ;)
Pierre, LF
Young, RF
Kent, 2B
Martin, C
Kemp, CF
LaRoche, 1B
DeWitt, 3B
Berroa, SS
Billingsley, P
Are we looking live at your apartment?
Loney's hitting streak won't end if he never enters the game.
Yes he is.
I know so close if it was only this
Martin
Young
Ethier
Kemp
LaRoche
DeWitt
Berroa,
Billingsley
Will be kinda fun to see Andy and Blake in the same line-up for the first time, though.
I wish Pee Wee could play SS. Then all our problems would be solved.
I have narrowed it down to two possible dates for a Dodger Thoughts picnic: August 16 or September 13.
End Tentative Alert
Will this take the place of a DT Day at Dodger Stadium?
What would be a fair return for Penny, I wonder?
FWIW, there's another game of some interest also taking place in L.A. on Sept. 13.
No.
That game should be in the evening.
And I'm no longer tuned in to the needs of USC football fans like I had to be before.
My roomate at school from Darien, CT idolizes cano..
Just how many more times does UCLA have to play BYU in football? That will be three games in about a year.
For the sake of college football fans everywhere, USC needs to win by 35 and set fire to Jim Tressel's sweater vest.
They didn't get Josh Beckett and look what has happened!
Because the Red Sox will bid more in order to keep Penny away from the Yankees, right?
I can live with that.
Phil Hughes.
Then why trade Penny when starting pitching is a premium; especially with his affordable contract next year.
Bob, is your base station acting OK now?
Has Torre ever used an Ethier-Kemp-Young outfield? What is it with Pierre?
You trade Penny if you can acquire a player that has the potential to be a permanent piece on the big league team. If we are only going to get fillers for him, you might as well hold onto him.
butttttttt
Billingsley 23
Kershaw 20
Hughes 22
that would be cool.
Aren't you being a little too trigger happy with Penny. Yes, he has sucked so far this season but he has shown he is a good pitcher.
.429/.481/.469/.951
Though his line against righties this season is not good at all:
.237/.305/.276/.582
So from the yankees, which players do you have in mind?
Do not trade Penny... He is only 30, still has a very heavy ball, and is a recent all-star starter (which I guess really doesn't mean much nowadays). This is exactly the kind of knee-jerk reaction that has been getting Ned in trouble in the first place (pun intended).
That would be indeed cool, but I can't imagine a scenario where we get Hughes for Penny. I think Cano would be a better possibility because the perceived value of a second baseman is lower than that of a "proven" pitcher who is cheap and controllable for another year.
That said, I was hoping for a DeWitt/LaRoche solution to the second base delimma.
Name the only other three current Dodgers to face Wolf. ("Current" excludes 60-day DL guys.)
It would seem that we could get something decent for Penny. I wonder if they have designs on getting rid of one of their veterans (Abreu, Giambi, Matsui).
I'm trying not to be proactively annoyed at Colletti for something that has not happened.
Penny has an 80 ERA+ and about a 1.56 WHIP. If he isn't done (his speed is still good), I think there's good odds that he'll rebound to 100 ERA+ by year's end, which his last 18-19 starts ought to be pretty decent, and his option year will be a pretty good value to keep.
1. Good for me on the picnic dates. I have no conflicts with the game at John Wooden/Vin Scully Coliseum.
2. Isn't trading Penny right now (instead of in 2006 or 2007 at this time) an example of our GM dealing a player at his lowest value? And isn't that something he has been accused of in the past?
3. I get more work done by just reading these days. :) But I'm still here and a proud DTer.
And with that, I bid you adieu as I head off to watch the A's and to scout the Yankees for us. Go Chad!
http://eastwindupchronicle.com/park-chan-ho-what-the-heck-is-going-on/
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