The Dodgers are coming off of a 5-4 home stand and a tough series loss to the Pirates. Oddly enough the Pirates are now playing a series at San Francisco and have helped the Dodgers move closer to first place by beating the sputtering Giants. The boys in blue enter today only a half game behind in the NL West.
Not surprisingly Brett Anderson’s season debut was a spectacular failure during the Dodger’s 11-3 loss to the Bucs on Sunday afternoon. The Dodgers were lucky that the Giants blew a big lead to the Orioles and they didn’t lose any ground in the standings.
The Dodgers will now embark on a 7-game road trip to Philadelphia and Cincinnati once again unsure of who will toe the rubber from game to game. For today the Dodgers do know who will take the mound and that’s Japanese right hander Kenta Maeda. He’s been a rock for the Dodgers all season long.
Dodgers @ Philadelphia
Kenta Maeda-11-7 vs. Vince Velasquez-8-4
Game Time – 4:10 PM – TV- SNLA
Maeda faced the Phillies last week in a 9-3 Dodger win at Dodger Stadium. During that start Maeda allowed 3 earned runs on 6 hits over 5 innings. He’s now won three consecutive decisions. Overall Maeda has an 11-7 record with a 3.31 ERA over 23 starts. He’s struck out 129 and walked 34 while posting a solid 1.087 WHIP. Maeda is 7-2 with a 3.28 ERA on the road.
Maeda vs. Phillies
| Name | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | SH | SF | IBB | HBP | GDP |
| Maikel Franco | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .667 | .667 | .667 | 1.333 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cesar Hernandez | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | .333 | .000 | .333 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Odubel Herrera | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .333 | .333 | .333 | .667 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryan Howard | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Aaron Altherr | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .500 | .500 | 2.000 | 2.500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Freddy Galvis | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 2.500 | 3.500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cameron Rupp | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | .500 | .000 | .500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vincent Velasquez | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 20 | 18 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | .333 | .400 | .667 | 1.067 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
The Phillies will counter with 24-year old right hander Vince Velasquez. The second year starter got hammered by the Dodgers last week to the tune of 9 earned runs on 11 hits across 4.2 innings pitched. Overall Velasquez has been pretty good. He has an 8-4 record with a 3.94 ERA in 20 starts. He’s struck out 10.1 per nine and has struck out 120 over 107.1 innings pitched. Velasquez is 0-1 with a 15.19 ERA I 2 appearances against the Dodgers.
Velasquez vs. Dodgers
| Name | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | SH | SF | IBB | HBP | GDP |
| Adrian Gonzalez | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .667 | .667 | 1.333 | 2.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Yasmani Grandal | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .333 | .333 | 1.333 | 1.667 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Howie Kendrick | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .667 | .667 | 2.000 | 2.667 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Joc Pederson | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 2.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Josh Reddick | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Corey Seager | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .333 | .333 | .333 | .667 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Justin Turner | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .667 | .667 | 1.667 | 2.333 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chase Utley | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .333 | .333 | .333 | .667 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kenta Maeda | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 | .500 | 1.000 | 1.500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 26 | 24 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 6 | .458 | .500 | 1.000 | 1.500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Justin Turner is still battling a sore hand which he injured fielding a grounder on Saturday night. The Dodgers said the bruising had subsided considerably on Sunday and with the day off on Monday they are hopeful he’ll be back in the lineup today. Turner has been one of the best third baseman is all of baseball over the last two months.
The red dream is batting .274 with 21 home runs and 67 runs driven in with an .843 OPS in 451 plate appearances. Right hander Bud Norris is expected to be activated from the disabled list on Tuesday. He was placed on the disabled list because of hip stiffness and is expected to take Brandon McCarthy’s vacant spot in the rotation.
This is a completely different Philadelphia roster than what we have become used to in the past seasons. The Phillie’s roster is filled with rookies. Although Ryan Howard and catcher Carlos Ruiz still remain with the club. Howard is batting .196 but has slugged 17 home runs and driven in 40 runs in 85 games. The Phillies have actually won 4 in a row and are 28-29 at home this season.
Game Notes-In case you were wondering Chase Utley is hitting .293 with a .375 OBP and 127 home runs in his career at Citizen’s Bank Park.
Well I was excited about seeing the game today, and then I saw that Reddick is batting fourth again.
Even in a off year for Agone, he is still a much better run producer, then
Reddick.
When is this going to stop?
Can anyone tell me why it is a good thing, to have Reddick hitting at the top of the order?
Because FAZ told the dummy to do it.
Thanks for the contribution Wonderful.
RHP, so they bat him 4th and hope for a MIRACLE
I hope that Chase has a big day today, and in the whole series in Phillie.
Because Roberts thinks it is a good idea. He hits Utley leadoff even though he has been much less than he was at the start of the season because Roberts likes the quality of Utley’s at bats.
MJ, ya gotta let go of things you can’t control or they will beat on you.
According to many of you here, FAZ has constructed the most horrible team on the face of the earth.
According to many here, Roberts is a puppet of FAZ and only does what FAZ tells him to do.
Using that rationale, FAZ deliberately constructed a pathetic team with a zombie manager who does only their bidding.
Oh, they team is in the Wild Card Lead and could take first place tonight!
Yes, FAZ did all this so that Dave Roberts could win the Manager of the Year Award!
You are truly Pathetic!
Mark
Just because a lot of us don’t like the fact that the front office signed McCarthy, and Anderson, that doesn’t mean we hate every move that the front office has made.
I didn’t think that the front office made the line up for Mattingly.
And I don’t think that the front office makes the line up for Roberts either.
I know Roberts has his reason for batting Reddick fourth, but I don’t see Reddick, as a number four hitter, especially on this team.
Do you think that Reddick should bat at the top of this line up?
And I would be happy to be proven wrong, because that would mean that Reddick is hitting well.
And that would add another good bat, to the line up.
All valid questions? Someone must of pissed in Mark’s cheerios today. It took only 4 posts in this thread for Mark to start insulting people.
Anyone who uses their real name on a message board is nuts. With a name and a location anyone can find out a lot about someone.
Anyone who doesn’t is a coward! I’ve had plenty of people threaten to kick my ass. I doubt that would end well for them, but who knows? I use my real name because I don’t hide behind a keyboard and I will say the same thing to your face.
Just my opinion.
See, there a lot of history here. I have listened to many of these people on this board here for 15 years before I handed it over to Scott. Over the years, certain patterns are evident. If I say left, certain people say right, and I believed that no matter what I said, the would say the opposite. So I tested that hypothesis. I said Left and they said Right… so I waited a few weeks and said the exact same thing, only I said Right and sure enough, they came back and said Left!
As an example, when the Dodgers traded Kemp, I praised the deal and said that I believe Grandal would be a hell of a catcher. IT WAS ME AGAINST THE WORLD. You would not believe the grief that Badger, BOB and many others gave me. I stuck to my guns through this and thin. Even this year! I believed!
Now, there’s not much anyone can say about that. Grandal is all that and he will get better. So, when I come back with something that seems rather strong, it’s because of 15 years of history! I don’t play well with people who are phony and have no take! I stand up for what I believe and I support it with facts, not just silliness.
Back to baseball: Doc, take Maeda out. This is it!
Not to do with baseball or what you post. So much data about ourselves gets posted on the Internet in spite of our best efforts, I think it’s foolish to give your name because people can use it to damage you. If that makes me a coward, so be it.
I get it. Nothing personal. It is just not how I live my life.
You may or may not be surprised to find out a few things:
1. When people ask me “How are you” my response is “NEVER BETTER” and I mean it!
2. I am one of the most, positive happy people you will ever meet.
3. I hate guns. I really do.
4. I always carry a firearm and have them strategically placed.
5. I pray I never need them.
6. This is a crazy world!
7. You have to be prepared for two things: (1) Random acts of kindness and (2) random acts of violence.
8. I’m ready.
9. I’m your best friend.
10. I’m your worst enemy!
Godspeed! I can tell you are a good guy!
This was posted late in the last thread in response to dodgerpatch’s latest screed:
Wow Mr. smarter-than-everyone-else. We “Just don’t grasp the essential unpredictability of game”? Wow – you are so much smarter – after watching baseball for over 50 years, I never would have guessed that they actually play the games because the outcomes are unknown and unpredicted before they play them?
And you really can’t make any kind of prediction? Really? All of the SABRguys refer to regression to the mean – doesn’t that mean that you can predict future outcomes based on past outcomes? In fact, isn’t that really the best predictive factor?
You can’t make a prediction? At the beginning of the season, didn’t you predict that teams like the Braves and Reds would do badly this year? How? Didn’t you look at their rosters, at the rosters of other teams, and predict an outcome based on that? Don’t you predict that Clayton Kershaw will pitch well almost every time out, based on past experience?
How much do you know about medicine? Do you know that athletes with shortened tendons and ligaments tend to more injuries (muscle pulls, ligament and tendon injuries)? Haven’t you noticed that certain guys tend to be injured all of the time and some never seem to get injured? Do you really think that the Braintrust is unaware that athletes with injury histories are more likely to be reinjured? No one here is suggesting that Brett Anderson’s recent back injury was caused by his previous elbow injury – only that some athletes are injury prone. Do you have evidence to the contrary?
The Braintrust signs the injured or injury-prone because they can be signed cheaply. THAT’S BECAUSE OTHER FRONT OFFICES ARE AWARE THAT THEY ARE INJURY-PRONE TOO. If what you say is true, then there would be no reason that the Andersons and McCarthys of the world wouldn’t receive huge contracts, or why the Greinkes and Prices would. Again, the best predictor of the future is the past.
(By the way, as an aside, learn the difference between “effect” and “affect” – they mean different things and are to be used differently.)
Finally, if the best predictor of the future is the past, then I don’t predict the Braintrust to sign any big $$$ contracts or to extend Kershaw after 2018. You’re right – we don’t know for sure. I am making a prediction based on past behavior. If you disagree, what is the basis? What past behavior can YOU cite? Remember, The Braintrust said that they were “looking at” making a move for “premium” players at the Deadline – are Reddick or Hill really premium players? If this is their idea of “premium”, then this is a roadmap to future behavior. If it isn’t, then you would have to assume that their quest for “premium” was unsucessful.
Before I respond, I do not like you to assume facts not in evidence:
I have never said that I am smarter than anyone. In fact, I have said that I am not. So, when your first volley is fiction, I have difficulty with believing anything you say.
However, I will give you another chance: Name the players you mentioned: The Braintrust signs the injured or injury-prone because they can be signed cheaply:
This was in response to dodgerpatch, so I was not addressing this to anyone but him. He is the one who asserted that us dummies just don’t understand the essential unpredictability of the game. I hate it when someone claims that we “just don’t understand something” when in fact we do, but we have a disagreement about something else. It’s a straw man argument – a logical fallacy.
As to the injury-prone, exhibit A is Brett Anderson, B is Brandon McCarthy. They traded for Rich Hill, who still has yet to pitch – Exhibit C. I don’t yet know if Alex Wood is injury prone but many predicted injury for him because of his delivery. (Much like, say Tim Lincecum.) He’s exhibit D.
Well, just don’t forget that 99.8% of the people in the world are smarter than me.
OK, there are still 23 others who went to the DL. It’s just one of those things. It didn’t break them and will make them stronger.
Rick
What are those formulas called, to prove or disprove that an argument is true, or untrue, or a cogent argument?
A logical fallacy is a flaw of reasoning that allows someone to think that they are proving something (or to make you think that they are proving something), but they aren’t.
One weblink is:
http://www.logicalfallacies.info/
Theorems.
And I think we’d all be better if we stop posting that people who don’t agree are idiots.
The only idiots are those wh support the Giants. And yes those idiots have been pretty smart these past 10 years, but they are still idiots.
“Wow Mr. smarter-than-everyone-else. We “Just don’t grasp the essential unpredictability of game”? Wow – you are so much smarter – after watching baseball for over 50 years, I never would have guessed that they actually play the games because the outcomes are unknown and unpredicted before they play them?”
No, I’m not smarter than everyone else. I just have a different opinion. If you’re rebutting my argument it would be more effective if it involved more than sarcasm. Because you have a predetermined opinion about the game and about the current front office that is negative, any move they make that is not initially successful is used as example of their poor decision making. That is a breakdown in logic because it neglect the fundamental unpredictability principle. They could have the best information and use the most sound judgement to make a personnel decision, but sometimes luck is factor. Sometimes moves work out. Sometimes they don’t.
“And you really can’t make any kind of prediction? Really? All of the SABRguys refer to regression to the mean – doesn’t that mean that you can predict future outcomes based on past outcomes? In fact, isn’t that really the best predictive factor?”
No…no it doesn’t. You can use data and the most experiences scouts to evaluate a player to forecast their future performance, which gives you a statistical advantage when done well, and makes your educated guess a little more educated, but it doesn’t allow you to predict the future.
“You can’t make a prediction? At the beginning of the season, didn’t you predict that teams like the Braves and Reds would do badly this year? How? Didn’t you look at their rosters, at the rosters of other teams, and predict an outcome based on that? Don’t you predict that Clayton Kershaw will pitch well almost every time out, based on past experience?”
I can look at the Braves roster and look at the performance of the entire team and forecast that they won’t be very good, and I’d likely be right. Some of you could also try to predict the the Diamondbacks would win over 100 games this year, and you’d be wrong. I would expect Kershaw to continue to pitch well, but then he could get injured. Looking a bad team and predicting they’ll be a a bad team is different from knowing when a player is going to get a freak injury.
“How much do you know about medicine? Do you know that athletes with shortened tendons and ligaments tend to more injuries (muscle pulls, ligament and tendon injuries)? Haven’t you noticed that certain guys tend to be injured all of the time and some never seem to get injured? Do you really think that the Braintrust is unaware that athletes with injury histories are more likely to be reinjured? No one here is suggesting that Brett Anderson’s recent back injury was caused by his previous elbow injury – only that some athletes are injury prone. Do you have evidence to the contrary?”
Noticing what certain guys tend to do is not is not a good way to make a judgment on future performance. Do athletes with shortened tendons get more global injuries? How much more likely are they to get injured? Do we know? Is there data? Is that even true or just anecdote and more observations of “certain guys.” Because there’s nothing more than association, I am unwilling to conclude that a player with a previous elbow injury is more likely to have a back injury. Maybe there will be a day where there will be a more than a happenstance correlation, but the science isn’t there. The onus is on you to provide the evidence that it does, not on me to disprove a claim based on zero evidence.
“The Braintrust signs the injured or injury-prone because they can be signed cheaply. THAT’S BECAUSE OTHER FRONT OFFICES ARE AWARE THAT THEY ARE INJURY-PRONE TOO. If what you say is true, then there would be no reason that the Andersons and McCarthys of the world wouldn’t receive huge contracts, or why the Greinkes and Prices would. Again, the best predictor of the future is the past.”
No, that’s not true. The front office is not signing players who have been injured because they’re cheap. If the criteria is simply to sign players who are cheap, there is an unlimited supply of players who are ineffective, old, injured and just bad they can sign. Players who are coming off a history of injury but who possess good fundamental metrics are often UNDERVALUED relative to their potential effectiveness. Such players without a track record of success are not as desired on the open market relative to other players with a better track record. Maybe they are higher risk, but the upside versus cost makes them possibly good investments.
“Finally, if the best predictor of the future is the past, then I don’t predict the Braintrust to sign any big $$$ contracts or to extend Kershaw after 2018. You’re right – we don’t know for sure. I am making a prediction based on past behavior. If you disagree, what is the basis? What past behavior can YOU cite? Remember, The Braintrust said that they were “looking at” making a move for “premium” players at the Deadline – are Reddick or Hill really premium players? If this is their idea of “premium”, then this is a roadmap to future behavior. If it isn’t, then you would have to assume that their quest for “premium” was unsucessful.”
I told you the basis for my opinion on this. If the basis of predicting future behavior is past behavior, then based on the behavior of every single general manager since the dawn of history who has used his resources to the best of his ability to build the most successful team, I would expect Friedman to do the same. In Tampa Bay he used what resources he had to the best of his ability to field the most successful team. I would expect him to use the resources of the Dodgers to build a successful team. To assume he would operate as frugally as he did in Tampa just because of ego or habit or an inability to act anyway differently and NOT use the resources here is not a good argument, assuming he’s intelligent and rational.
Grandal
I made that hot July keep on going, with the start of he hot August.
He is really hitting well, it isn’t just HRs now.
Yeah, many many said Howie and Chase were done too… and that Joc was a bum!
Sorry I really messed my Grandal thoughts up.
I may have said Joc was a bum…
Did you criticize the Dodgers signing Howie because they had already resigned Chase and had Kike on the roster? Some did.
No, but I did find it curious. However, I felt that at the price they had to do it and that was before I even found out he was a decent LF.
Joc getting hurt, was the key to him being a better hitter.
It gave him the time to examen his swing.
What a great homecoming for Chase!! Great reception for him by the fans as well
Excellent outing for Maeda. Yes. Only 6ip I know. I’ve come to not expect more
Yes I’m really happy for Chase tonight.
Like I have said before, Mattingly should have played him against the Mets in post season.
I also knew that Chase was going to come in to spring training, ready to fight for the second base job.
Because he is the ultimate competitor.
Bobby:
I,too, wished Maeda had pitched longer but oly if the game was close. When it became a blowout I agreed to take him out.
He did throw 20 pitches in the previous inning and he sat a long long time in the dugout. Besides how much can Baez hurt us if he pitches this inning and next? We are up 11 runs afterall. Could be a good time to see what Fien can do next inning also.
Bobby
Maeda was much sharper tonight aganist this line up.
They had just saw him last week, and they hit him pretty hard last week, so he has made the right adjustments.
I think Turner’s sore hand is still bothering him.
I hope his hand will get better, because he was scorching the ball.
I hate Baez – and if Jansen leaves, because Baez has “closer stuff” he will probably get the ball in the 9th (unless Chris Hatcher does) next year. Another homer! That’s 10 in 56 innings!
I seriously don’t think Hatcher will be back. Perhaps we can package Baez in the off season. I certainly don’t want him in the post season(yes, I think we’ll make it).
I haven’t looked but I bet he throws his FB 90% of the time with little movement. He is still a thrower and not a pitcher IMHO
Rick
I know what a fallacy is, but they have a type of a equation that is kind of mathmatical equation, that tells you if something is a cogent argument.
Not Occam’s Razor?
Liberatore just pitched a hitless inning with two strikeouts at Oklahoma City and Puig is 2 for 3.
That is great news.
I like Libertore a lot, and he has done so well this year.
He has total concentration when he pitches.
We are a different team, since we last played the Giants.
I am looking forward to that series.
Reddick needs to get his ass to the bench for about three days. No excuse for that!
Mark
Why are you being like that to me?
I just asked you what you thought about Reddick hitting fourth.
I’m serious. He missed that catch. Nothing about you!
Did everyone notice that Chase had no grey hair today?
That is odd, because that was Steve Garveys advice to Chase before the game.
He knew he has that pitchers number and wanted to prep himself ahead of a load of highlight videos and photo shoots. Ha ha.
What all of you fail to realize is that Timmons is over-compensating for having his manhood stripped from him while he was in prison. Seriously, he is a blowhard and tries to act tough in an attempt to reclaim something that was taken from him. Pretty pathetic, but very true.
Timmons was voted all-star catcher on the prison team.
wha
Knock it off
Ditto
TrueBlue,
You have always been a classless act! As usual, you know nothing of which you speak. You ignorance is only exceeded by your lack of humanity.
Here’s my e-mail address: [email protected]
Do you want me to publish yours? I know it!
I know who you are and where you live.
Original Dodgerman was your first name when you were expelled 10 years ago. Like a bad penny, you always re-surface!
BTW, if anyone has any questions, ask me!
You hide behind that keyboard – but you would never say that to my face!
Yeagman!
Whoever is batting forth has no correlation to what the score will be…
Then why have a batting order?
It makes us feel better!
I have always believed that a random batting order would make little difference.
😉
Mark
Your acting like a jerk.
Because I am concerned about Reddick not hitting, you are rude to me, because that is a knock to the front office to you.
Sorry Mark I want the Dodgers to do well, like any other fan does, and it isn’t always about the front office, like it is with you.
I like everyone on this site, and I like Bum, don’t like when people make personal attacks on others, or fight with each other either.
And just because I feel something about one thing, it doesn’t mean I feel all one way, about something.
Seems he just cannot let go there MJ. No need to be rude just because you do not agree with someone, now he is rattling his sword again and saying no one would say things to his face. He is a legend in his own mind. By the way, how did you like that bush league attempt at a catch by Reddick? Fundamental baseball..and he blew it. At my son’s in Denver using his computer to check in. Watched the whole game, and at least we got 6 innings out of a starter. As humid as it was there, I was surprised he did. And Reddick should be hitting WAY DOWN in the order. The hitting 4th experiment has failed miserably.
Sorry, all, but I still like him batting second (or eighth … Now you’ve gotten me to change my mind a little).
I say this Reddick did have two hard hit balls yesterday, but he is not a player that should bat at the top of the order.
Howie is a better hitter, but I wouldn’t move Howie from batting eighth right now, because he is hitting the ball really well right now, and is hitting in runs, and getting on base.
I didn’t see his bad defensive play, so I will have to see if I can.