1- obviously Pierre should be our top pinch hitter, not Betemit.

The Good
- Player with highest OBP gets more PAs

The Bad
- Player with lowest OBP gets more PAs
- Player with 3rd highest OBP gets fewer PAs

The Also Worth Mentioning
- Player with .361 SLG gets same number of PAs (in 3rd spot in lineup, typically reserved for team's best hitter)

i agree. can we at least wait until pierre messes up today?

If I'm going to whine about anything it's the fact that the Yankees are on national TV three straight days. Though I'm kinda glad to see them beating the Red Sox tonight, for some reason.

The only way Pierre goes in the near future is if the Dodgers eat an equally bad contract (are there any other totally undesirable players owed 44 million), or if we package Kemp and/or Billingsley along with him.

More "coachability," and less "BABIP" references!

It might be fun for an hour.

Why is Tony Gwynn Jr. starting for the Brewers when they have like 12 superior outfielders?

Pierre does has the good face.

butler, myers, probably favre . . . .

The bet is that if he hits 35 or more, I lose. If he hits 30 or below I win.

It is fair to say that outside of Dodger players, I've been following Bill Hall as close as anyone else in the league, so feel free to direct all Bill Hall questions in my direction.

The wager is for a Burrito, and things are looking good. He's on pace to hit 22!

including Brett Somers.

if we don't expand the circle a tad, we're going to be stuck with bombko for another year.

1/2? Not so much

what could happen?

I've been hoping to get a Andy Laroche comp for a few days now.

I think I see first amendment issues, though.

see, it's that consistency that I really admire in tomko.

That is classic. I love this kid.

bart starr, bart connor, bart simpson. all would be reasonable upgrades.

we're talking about ned and grady here.

112-hopefully today is the last day for bombko and he can go back to sitting on his ass in the bullpen.

What do you mean specifically? Tomko was taken out of the rotation last year. I think it will happen soon. It might just be wishful thinking.

relegating tomko to the bullpen is just one of them.

and of course, the fact that removing him from the rotation became necessary last year could be considered a strong reason not to put him back in the rotation this year. but, hey, I'm not a professional.

He had 9 strikeouts in his first game, since then he hasn't really had a similar outing.

I do think Tomko feels the heat of Chad behind him because he did get taken out last year.

I agree. He looks a little tired and slow. Looks like he is swinging a bat under water.
Maybe give him a few days off.

But besides that, the reason I think a lot of us whine about him being in the rotation vs. Billingsley is just that it's a lot less fun to watch these games when you don't have youngsters to root for. Billingsley is more fun to watch, to watch his stuff and to see him progress. Even when Tomko does well I don't have any interest in watching him pitch, because I know there will soon be something bad happening and I know there won't be any progression.

I'd give him two weeks in Hawaii and call up Loney. Maybe Nomar won't want to come back.

Problem is Loney isn't doing anything either.
Hitting .250, 1 HR.

But he also can't strike guys out or get ground balls to be an effective reliever.

What he probably can do is be a 5th-6th starter but the decision has to be made if you have a team with maybe no number one but a lot of twos and threes, then do you throw out the 5th starter if you have guys who can give you better chances to win.

Subdued in New England.

So what? Small sample size. He tore it up last year.

He literally cannot be any worse than his predecessor has been since last All-Star break.

Dead to me?

Or just on notice?

Little would not specify how long the experiment would last. "It will be more than one day," he said. Little had a simple answer as to why the changes. "Four runs in three days," he said, referring to the offensive production while the Dodgers were swept in Anaheim over the weekend. He wasn't as clear as to why the changes would awaken his club's sluggish offense.

The Dodgers would end up losing that game when Otis Nixon lost a fly ball in the gray sky.

I forget the year.

Well, I remember the year. I just choose to forget it. 1997 was not a happy year.

(theme music from final jeopardy)

But now it's in the hands of the Rockies bullpen.

Run away! Run away! Run away!

1) It is hard to mount an offense when you are always behind.

2) It is hard to pitch with no run support.
???

The first batter they faced tied the game on one swing.

He talked about Juan Castro starting "the last triple in Dodgers history."

Except the Dodgers had one after that. But Vin wasn't there for that, so he doesn't remember the one started by Darren Dreifort.

I mention Brad Ausmus's name because he is always a big hit on Google.

I have no idea why.

Some feel that Loney forced the issue last season and in ST.

maybe that is where I got confused; chan ho did serve up many other memorable home runs, but perhaps not this one.

I feel that way too, but after he made his comments, I don't think he made Colletti have any thoughts of giving him the benefit of the doubt with his struggles.

As for this game, it's depressing that I now consider this game un-winnable with the offense we have.

Billingsley doesn't seem to be very good with inherited runners. Or am I misperceiving things?

Gosh, I hate to see this, now they'll say Billingsley isn't ready to start even if this isn't the best game to be judging him by. Sigh.

I hate to see this so much, in fact, that I'm now officially turning the game off.

At least you guys aren't watching 24. This is far less painful than that train wreck. It does not bring viewer goodwill when you tease an awesome fight, then just completely avoid it. (Exception: Raiders of the Lost Ark).

Sigh.

well, maybe the offense will perk up, now that the game is out of reach.

Grady should have PH for Tomko in the bottom of 5th instead of trying to squeeze in one more inning. It ended up costing Dodgers 5 runs this inning and now the game is definitely out of reach.

250 actually, I think we've actually made the deal with the devil, tried to flag a ride, everyone passed us by. More like that.

Still, Grady should have pulled Tomko after the first batter reached, not two of them. Might not have mattered much though.

Methinks Dave's writers owe the guy who runs DodgerBlues a few licensing dollars.

Old dog, new tricks.

See: Shimmin, Andrew

It's better, hope-wise, to have that string than to not, and he does seem to have picked up one stable point of K/9 he didn't have before (plus another this year, that I'm betting won't stick around), which, if it really does represent improvement, means it's improved to the Tomko level.

I think it's unlikely that Hendrickson is better than Tomko, but their talent may not be dissimilar enough to make it worth worrying over.

At the very least lets get one of Tomdrickson out of the rotation and Kemp into a few games a week.

You're either a Tomko man or a Hendrickson man.

I prefer Hendrickson because I feel that Tomko is overrated as an artist.

"Shou're risking a patient's shlife!"

Was JP's force 4-6? first pitch?

Wow, was that a quick K of Furcal?

I am slogging through this season and then I'm going to delete it from the DVR forever.

Bob, did you watch the Simpsons 24 parody yesterday? Was fairly amusing, I thought, certainly more than 24 has been this year.

Kooky inning for Broxton, 2ks, 2bbs, no runs, most importantly.

Yep. And yet Management seems to think that Betemit is a huge problem, while Nomar is treated like royalty.

Oh, sorry, you can add the Rockies, as tonight attests [they didn't leave after 7, but got the lead in their half and then gave it away in the bottom half and then lost the game the next inning].

Okay, Gonzo, nice to see some power again. Gwynn almost had a stab at that one.

So.

Why can't we have a Prince Fielder in our organization?

Maybe someday the Dodgers will at least let Matt Kemp hit - he doesn't have quite that amount of power but could be the closest we have to young slugger.

Thanks Juan. I need that.

there's always tomorrow.

damn, haven't been able to hear Greg type those words for 4 days now. Sigh.

Night all.

Beltre was only that good for one year, but he should count too.

Well, the way I saw it, Green seemed to always hit the homers when they didn't decide the game... I'm sure he's had his moments of clutch, but overall I always saw him as a "I'll get it done in the first inning" kinda guy. I must say though... he still gets mad propers for hitting 4 on my birthday, May 23, and for getting the single season Dodger HR record that same year.

I assume it was the torn labrum, and that he never recovered.

We just need to sign Julio Franco and Rickey Henderson to bat 4 and 5.

So yes to review the lineup would be (in some order)

Furcal
Loney
Martin
Ethier
Betemit
Kemp
LaRoche
Wong
Pitcher's Spot

It will never happen but maybe I can go program it it Madden ERR MLB 2k7

the yankee pitcher?

You do the math.

Brett Tomko makes too much money to dress like I do on Sunday Morning at the gym. Mix in a collar, Bomko.

Plus, if you have any more trouble sleeping just watch snippets from the last few games and you'll be lulled into the land of nod soon enough.

Okay, I'm cranky, too. Better call it a night myself. here's to a better game tomorrow!

oppo yacks are opposite field homeruns.

Oh, sorry, almost forgot. The post-game commentary re Tomko serves to confirm something else talked about here tonight, to wit, those words about Tomko fooling some with his "great stuff". Three such souls are Steve, Kevin, and the other guy, who, realized by them or not, more or less said the same thing tonight post-game without noticing that their "great stuff" guy had an ERA just south of 6 coming in [and putting aside Bills' contribution, had a 5.40 ERA through 5 tonight].

Though he was provoked by TJ Simers.

http://tinyurl.com/ysnl9g

"I got a couple balls up, and they hit home runs. Other than that, I threw the ball well," said Tomko, who was charged with two runs that Billingsley inherited."

Its must have been that darn Billingsley that kept Tomko from throwing a good game.

"The results are the results. If you're not winning, you're not winning," he said. "There's no way to sugarcoat it. You try to be accountable for what you're doing. It's not the way I'd want to write it up or the way I want it to happen, but I'm not beating myself up and thinking I'm the worst pitcher in the world."

Here's the link:

http://tinyurl.com/ypvnhy

Meanwhile, the Brewers may not have "Veteran Presence," but they have power in the middle of the order. One can draw one's own conclusions as to which is working out better.

"It came out of nowhere for me," said Pierre, who last hit leadoff May 10 against Florida. "But it's something I've done before, so I'm not like, 'Oh my gosh, I'm leading off.' It's whatever to help the team win."

Who knew The Player was a 13 year old girl? LOLZ OMG ROFL!!

Quotes like this make Juan Pierre very Ecsteinian...

Sounds like he's willing to sit on the bench...

A. Maybe they are not ready and Ned is right in putting veterans in front of them.

B. Maybe I am right, they should have been playing, and Ned has screwed up their heads to the point that they are underperforming in Vegas.

C. Maybe a little of both.

SD: 96-66
LA: 87-75
SF: 86-76
AZ: 76-86

Why was Tomko allowed to hit with two outs after going 5 innings and at 86 pitches? I'm sure the question was posted numerous times above. It's a head scratcher...

And I agree, or was asking the same question, too...

At any rate, any way you slice it, Tomko's numbers are not pretty and he needs to go back to the bullpen. I am more okay with hendrickson starting in Schmidt's spot for awhile longer, Tomko in bullpen, Bills starting. Or Kuo, who is also better as a starter than reliever.

Again, though, separate from that, the offense needs to find more consistency. Maybe the late innings last night were a sign, but they seem to spark to life only when the game's out of reach. Hopefully that'll change soon. Going against Sheets today will be a tough test, though he's not unbeatable.

Loney can post a 330 OBP with 1 hr in the three hole right?

Anyone can play CF avgeragely with a .302 OBP and drive in 10 people in 45 games and have a +10 steals?

And Bills and Kuo can give you 53 inning of 7.00 era instead of the ex giants cant they?

And the irony is if they did this, they would be benched and sent to triple A

So true.

The fan in front of me last night turned to me and said the biggest problem is that when we make a deal it won't be to replace the broken parts. After the air clears, Pierre, Gonzo, and Nomar will still be starting and somebody will be traded who had nothing to do with the problems of this team.

As one of Nomar's biggest backers he looks like he aged 5 years in 5 months. He's either hiding an injury and afraid to disclose it because he knows it could be terminal to his future or his skills eroded much faster then I expected or he is just in a serious funk. I normally would have chosen funk but I'm starting to lean toward the other two options the more I watch him. His play around the bag has looked abysmal but that might be because I've seen to much of Kotchman this year.

Nomar's OPS post-allstar break last year: yep, .694.

We're talking 400+ at-bats here. This can't be a funk, can it?

http://www.star-telegram.com/284/story/109512.html

422 - I have a hard time dismissing non-productivity from Nomar on account of injuries. Dude is always going to be injured, you've got to find away to produce.

From the stats, it looks like the pitching isn't quite as good this year as 2003 and the offense isn't nearly as bad... but it's hard to tell. 2003 must have been a frustrating year.

"Dodgers manager Grady Little got the results he was looking for when he decided before Monday night's game to shake up his club's lifeless lineup.

He got table setting from Rafael Furcal, run production from Nomar Garciaparra, power from Jeff Kent and Luis Gonzalez and a big hit off the bench from accidental role player Wilson Betemit."

http://www.dailybreeze.com/sports/articles/7624051.html

I'm not going to look up the numbers, cause I'm lazy, but you pretty much got it right. Pitching better. Hitting not as bad.

Unless, of course, they continue to allow nine. Then it wouldn't be so good.

Um, weren't those things happening before the lineup change? Furcal was on fire, Nomar got his one RBI-single per game, Kent has hit HRs, and Betemit has been great as a pinch-hitter. Only LuGo's HR was a surprise, though he's second on the team in HRs, so it wasn't out of nowhere.

this team is going nowhere fast. it's an almost bizarre feeling to know we probably have the most organizational talent in the division but are spinning our wheels waiting for some breakthrough.

it's time for kemp, loney, & maybe bigbie. and it's definitely time for tomko to go.

They "manufactured" the other two runs. IIRC, one was walk-single-single; for the other, Furcal doubled and scored on Nomar's single off Counsell's glove, right? So even that one required an XBH and a little luck.

The question of how consistent the Dodgers are on offense should not be measured in runs, but in components to runs (walks and hits). What do those numbers look like game to game? Because they typically need three good things to happen before they can score a run, really what they want is INconsistency. WITHIN games. They want to bunch those good events in one or two innings, and not scatter them throughout the game to no effect. And of course, that's a matter of luck. If players could choose when to get their hits, this game would be a lot easier.

I haven't looked at the numbers, but I'll bet that more Dodger losses will feature them out-hitting (or out-OBPing) their opponents than will be true for other teams. This is why the lack of power is so devastating.

Astute.

Whoops, that was meant to be a reference to 436, not 435.

Well, LA is still in first so don't expect a lot of change to the roster that isn't injury driven. Gonzo, Pierre and Nomar aren't really close to being benched, I don't think. Each are putting up stats in their own way that justifies them being in the lineup still:

Nomar leads the club in RBI and is almost hitting .300!
Gonzo is 2nd on the team in HRs for a power-deficient club!
Pierre...makes a lot of money! (not to mention was just promoted in the lineup)

As for the offense, I am worried that what we may have is a similar issue with Nomar that the Angels had with Steve Finley in 2005. But for an entirely different reason.

I am sure no studies have been done on this but let's examine the facts, Nomar hits better at home and at night. He hits worse on the road and in the daytime.

He is the father of twin girls. They are Nomar and Mia's first kids. By all accounts, at least in L.A., familiar surroundings and family have played a big role in his deciding to play here.

I just wonder if he is having some difficulty adjusting to the life as a father and as a professional baseball player.

I am not trying to be glib here but I don't think he is hurt, though that could be but his legs and knees seem fine.

Any thoughts on this possibility.