The Dodgers flew to Colorado without Yasiel Puig, but they did present a couple of new players, Josh Reddick, and Jesse Chavez. Their debuts turned out to reflect the highs and lows of the game, as the Dodgers lost the opening game of the series, 3-7.
1st inning
Rockies
Brandon McCarthy threw 38 pitches, but at least he didn’t give up any runs.
3rd inning
Rockies
Threatening once again. McCarthy at 60 pitches, 2 on and no out.
Rockies score first. 1-0
4th inning Rockies 1-0
Dodgers got men on the corners with two out for Yasmani Grandal. Nothing.
Rockies
After hitting 85 pitches with two on and no out, McCarthy was done. Luis Avilan in.
Base hit. 2-0 and bases loaded.
Hit batter. 3-0
Inning ended 4-0.
5th inning Rockies 4-0
Rockies
J.P. Howell in.
Wow, scoreless inning.
Dodgers
Also a scoreless inning.
6th inning Rockies 4-0
Rockies
New Dodger Jesse Chavez in (with one out).
2-run double for Carlos Gonzalez. 6-0
‘Nother single, ‘nother run. 7-0
7th inning
8th inning Rockies 7-0
Dodgers
Howie Kendrick opened up with a double. All together now: YAY!
Justin Turner went to right center with a gapper to score two. 2-7
Rockies
Does it matter who’s pitching at this point?
Kiké Enrique Hernandez made a good throw to nail a Rockies runner at the plate. Good, not great. The great part came when Grandal took the throw on the wrong side of the plate, swirled 180 degrees, and made the tag for the out.
9th inning Rockies 7-2
Dodgers
Adrian Gonzalez: 4-3 (shift out)
Yasmani Grandal: Home Run! 3-7
Joc Pederson 3u
Howie Kendrick: K
Dodgers lose 3-7
Brandon McCarthy was absolutely terrible tonight. Blame the weather. Blame the delay. Blame Puig being AWOL. Whatever the reason, McCarthy couldn’t find the strike zone. It was not pretty to watch. He walked 5 batters in the first 3 innings.
Then Avilan entered and continued the suck.
Speaking of lousy pitching, new Dodger Jesse Chavez did nothing but give up hits and runs.
Josh Reddick had a pretty good debut, as he made a couple of nice plays in RF, including one Puig-esque forward diving grab. He went 0 for 4 batting clean up (no pressure), but hit the ball right on the screws a couple of times.
The Dodgers’ bats did not help their cause either. They didn’t get their first hit until the fourth, and didn’t score until the 8th.
We call it like it here at LADR. Sometimes it’s a team win. Tonight was a team loss. Let’s just forget this one and go to bed early tonight.
Brandon McCarthy’s box score: Lousy! ‘Nuff said.
Home runs: Yasmani Grandal
Team with RISP: 1 for 6 And it felt worse than that.
Oscar Martinez
I was born in the shadow of Dodger Stadium and immediately drenched in Dodger Blue. Chavez Ravine is my baseball cathedral, Vin Scully was the golden voice of summer all my life, and Tommy Lasorda remains the greatest Dodgers manager ever. My favorite things are coffee, beer, and the Dodgers beating the Giants. I also blog about my baseball card hobby at All Trade Bait, All the Time.
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8-7 since the AS break. At least we are still only 2 back.
When is our next recently acquired lefty scheduled to pitch?
He’ll be back by Labor Day. Can we get Ross Stripling back and send Chavez down?
Snider
Did they send Stripling down?
That’s what I read. Stewart coming back to pitch tonight.
Snider
Thanks!
Stripling was the first guy I thought of, when they said Chavez was here to be a middle reliever, or a long man.
That is just a stupid move, and not a good move, after Stripling has pitched so well, since he came back up.
If I was Stripling I wouldn’t be happy with the way they handled it.
If I were Stripling I’d be thrilled they were paying me $507,000 to do what it is I do. As a licensed stockbroker I know how to leverage it into twice that before I turn 30. Life is good, even on the fringes of the Major Leagues.
Does he get major-league minimum when he’s not on the 25-man? That would take some of the sting out of being occupied. And I guess OKC wouldn’t be so bad for someone who’s from Texas.
Chavez and Reddick didn’t do much for their new team, they certainly not alone. Remember it’s only one game but here is what some other players did for their new teams.
Beltran 0-4 2K’s
Bruce 0-4 2K’s
Kemp 0-4 2K’s
LuCroy 0-2 1K, 1BB, 1 run scored
ALSO:
Smith 1/3inning Hits-2 ER-2
Duke 2/3inning Hits-1 ER-0 BB-2
So we weren’t only team that had “growing pains” with our new players.
Players often have trouble adjusting after trades, especially pitchers in a new league with an unfamiliar catcher. Let’s give Reddick a week or so; if he’s not hitting I’m sure Billy Beane will give us a do-over 😉
Reddick is here because Puig wasn’t going to be and was probably on the team for the last 10 days to help get him traded.
No time to be trying out a rookie so Toles will have to wait.
If you add vanilla to a vanilla shake, does it really change the experience?
We added a decent right fielder, that is true. But was right field really a problem for us? All we did with that move was to admit we do not have the answer to our Puigopathy problem. And adding Hill felt to me like revisiting the McCarthy/Anderson ticket. Frankly I’m weary of the M.A.S.H. method of team construction.
Somehow we are still in this thing, which in and of itself is kind of amazing. It doesn’t feel like we should be but with SF floundering – here we are.
Now I find myself switching gears regarding Montas and Holmes. Maybe they weren’t all that. If so, why were they here? So we could use them in a mid season rental move? Not how I would draft and trade, but then, I’m not a MIT/Berkeley-Tulane grade thinker. The Dean’s List at Chico State doesn’t even get me a seat at the table.
I hope Reddick is happy here. And I hope Hill gives us 10 quality starts. Hope. As a Dodger fan I’m living on hope. Feels very familiar.
Badger
That is exactly how I felt when I read the begining of the Dodger Digest article about Hill.
I think Hill has been injured, and on the DL more often then Anderson.
And he is on the DL right now.
I know Mark has said that they are using these risky pitchers, to just fill in, until our young pitchers are ready, but I don’t think it will stop there.
I am so sick of them bringing every former A, to this team.
Our GM was asked about Reddick not hitting lefties well, and he said Reddick has good at bats against leftie pitchers.
I’m sorry his numbers against lefties, tell me different.
And Aren’t these guys suppose to be good with numbers?
Also MCCarthy didn’t even want to try to tough it out yesterday, when he didn’t have it.
And most pitchers, try to tough it out, when they don’t have there good stuff.
But McCarthy didn’t
even try to tough it out, and try to get it together.
He gladly went out, when Roberts went out there.
Mark calls Ethier soft, McCarthy makes Ethier look like a man of steel.
And I didn’t hear that Stripling went down, but if he did, why did he go down?
This guy Chavez was traded for Bolsinger, and Bolsinger, couldn’t pitch well enough, to pitch in the majors, why is this guy Chavez on the major league team?
Obviously he isn’t that good, if the Bluejay’s were willing to trade him for Bolsinger.
The Bluejay’s are in a division race, so they are not going to give up a decent arm, for a pitcher like Bolsinger.
This front office have brought eight former A’s to this team.
And there only other teams they have dealt with are the Phillies, the Braves, the Reds, the Rays, the Marlins, and the Bluejay’s, but Chavez was traded to the Bluejay’s from the A’s, just this year.
Most of these teams that they have made deals with, have not been in a pennant race, in the last couple years, except the Marlins this year.
The Reds the Phillies, and Braves, are teams that have been rebuilding, in the last couple of years.
How many good players, can these teams really have?
And if these teams, do have a couple of good players, why would they deal them away.
Like someone on here said, they are looking for players, like someone looking for a good car, at a Yugo dealer.
I guess they only target elite players, like someone that just goes window shopping, instead of making a real
purchase.
And the problem is, they have plenty of assets to get a quality player.
But they just can’t stop there small market ways, or they are in over there heads, trying to run a big market team.
Bottom line, these guys don’t value quality.
And there love with quanity is not getting the best of there money either, because look at all the pitchers they have went through.
If a pitcher can’t make there starts, or throw there innings, what good are they?
And all of this money adds up, and could have been used on pitchers that not only make there starts, there performance is at a much higher level.
I can’t still can’t believe that the Giants front office, did more, then this front office of eight former GMs.
The Giants gave up a few of there good prospects, but they didn’t give them away for players, that are only rentals.
And Moore, is not only better then our number three pitcher, Moore is much more reasonble, then our number three pitcher.
He is also younger then our number three pitcher, and pitches deeper into games too.
I guess I don’t have a problem moving Holmes and Cotton for these rentals, but to me there should hae been a lower level prospect than Montas unless the Dodgers medical people think his rib issues will be a problem throughout his career.
I wish Herscheiser was the pitching coach. He was talking last night what he had to change to pitch in Colorado. He had to abandon his curve ball and throw it in special situations. Fast balls and sliders is what he used. I have no faith in Honeycutt.
By the way, we have a new medical staff.
I think Roberts is doing a very good job with all the injuries.
Also, one writer thought 1-S. F., 2- Dodgers and 3-Texas did the best in the trades.
Oh yeah? Well, this writer says the Rangers, A’s and Cleveland did as well as anyone.
Who knows what they will say in the coming months. You pays your money and you takes your chances.
Last night was very boring. And even the pen had to go the usual 6 last night, they better be ready today because rookie Brock Stewart comes up to start at Colorado.
As someone said above, we’re 8-7 in the last 2 weeks, yet we’ve gained like 4-5 games on sf. wow, we both suck, but we just suck less! I guess I’ll take that.
Bobby
We would have been ten and five, if Kenley would have been able, to save those two games, that we gave him the ball, wth the lead.
And those two
games, really make a difference with our record.
Ten and five looks much better, then eight and seven.
The comments from the suits appear to say that the trades with Oakland had more to do with the seasons the players were having this year and being an impact for the next 2 months. That’s it. They are going with the hot hands. These are 2 month rentals. Period. The expectation is that they will bring their Oakland game to the Dodgers. The problem is that the Oakland game does not translate well in a big market, and it doesn’t get much bigger than LA. Playing before 10,000 fans with little expectation allows the player to be as good as he can be. In LA it’s much different. I hope the suits are right. Still, the team continues to be decimated on the mound. And McCarthy yesterday said after the game that he had no answers for his poor performance. When asked how is arm felt, he said he didn’t know. Not good. Go Phillies.
A lot of strange thinks happen when he bartender shouts “last call.” The customers suddenly feel that they still have a lot of unmet needs. The trade deadline appears to be about the same.
I like it.
“Last call” sounds like the end of the line to me. It’s ok to go home empty handed. There’s always tomorrow. And next year.
I thought it was the dollar shots myself.
At least former Dodger Scott Schebler beat the Cards last night in his return to the majors.
Reports say that Puig was sent down, among other reasons, for activities outside the ball park. For two or three months now, I have wondered about explanations for his failure to thrive. The things I could think of are (1) vision, which another person here mentioned the other day, and (2) alcoholism. Many things about his behavior are typical of alcoholics and other addicts. (I spent several years in professional study of addiction treatment programs and their clients.) I always hesitated to mention possible addiction problems because of possible stigmatization of Puig, but it is a problem that strikes doctors, lawyers, and clergymen and throughout the ranks of humanity, and it is a disease rather than a moral failing. His apparent thoughts of grandeur, everything bigger than life, seeming critical moments of inattention, and a lot of other things would be consistent. A lot has been said that he needs a personal adviser (sponsor?) which I believe is true whether this particular theory is true or some other problem is present.
He had a lot thrown at him in his attempts and realization of leaving Cuba, and it would be easy for any man to lose his way during such a process. Of course, our thoughts should be that the man be helped, and then the baseball player be rehabbed.
In other words, I think that this is a story larger than just a man being a knucklehead.
Interesting theory.
I’ve always contended a professional life coach would be a sound investment for all major sports franchises. One, or more, familiar with Cuban culture would be a good idea for Los Angeles. Friedman would know this – right?
They hired a fellow named Bravo to tag along with him in 2013; he spent last winter with Puig at Yasiel’s request but has not been retained by the Dodgers. I can hear people saying, “He’s a grown man, he’s responsible for himself,” but wasn’t he a valuable investment and worth keeping an eye on?
I watched 30/30 about Gooden and Strawberry last night–very sad. I wouldn’t want to see that happen to anybody. I hope that’s not Puig’s problem.
If Puig had an addiction, baseball looks at that is an illness, like they should, and Puig would be taken care of.
Puig is not being a good team mate, and not listening to his coaches.
In slugging percentage, Puig ranks 180 out of all players in baseball.
And this is not enough to keep a player, playing on an everyday basis on a baseball team like the Dodgers.
This is more about Puig’s actions, then just performance alone.
And if Puig can get along with Roberts, he has big problems.
Because Roberts has went out of his way, to be there for Puig, and give Puig a fair chance this year.
And I don’t think many managers, would have given Puig the effort, or the chance, that Roberts has given Puig this year.
Roberts was asked if it takes a lot a time, to deal with Puig, and Roberts said yes.
Puig did have a guy that helped Puig when he first came up.
And Puig had this same guy, help him to get ready for this year, but after that, this guy went back home, and is retired.
It sounds to me, that Puig just doesn’t want to follow the rules like every other player on the team.
And if Puig can’t perform at a good enough level, and he doesn’t want to listen to his manager, or his coaches, what are the Dodgers suppose to do?
Remember when Puig was asked if he looked at his tapes of his previous at bats, to see why he is having trouble hitting?
And Puig said no, because this isn’t school, this is a job.
He must have really said this, and meant that.
Remember when I said, that Puig was close to Howie in leftfield.
And Puig also was up on the wall, right next to Toles, in Toles very first game, in the majors?
I bet Roberts saw that, and I bet one those guys, said something to Roberts about that too.
IF Puig actually said that, and meant it, then in my opinion he is getting bad parenting. And who are Puig’s parents now? The Los Angeles Dodgers. If that happened in Bochy’s house the kid would be watching film in a basement corner, hanging by his thumbs with his mouth taped shut. Man up Dodgers. If he says “no” then DFA him. We don’t need the distraction. You are on board or you are overboard. Choose.
Badger
That is on Puig not the Dodgers.
And I am sure that Roberts, has more then went out of his way, to try to get the best of Puig, but if Puig doesn’t respond to Roberts, and his coaches, he is the problem.
And this is an on going theme, when it comes to Puig.
(“In slugging percentage, Puig ranks 180 out of all players in baseball.”)
Thirty teams, twenty-five players each, that puts him in the top 25%, not too bad. Even if you eliminate pitchers, he’s still in the top 50%. I think what bother you, and I and a lot of others, is that we THINK he could do better. Quite possibly that is an unfair expectation on our part. Please note that Ellis is about half as good as Puig, we could easily get a better catcher, yet most of you AND management are quite happy with him. That is unfair.
Wondering
I got that number from Jerry Hairson, on the Dodger pre game show, and he made it sound bad.
The thing is Puig is not developing as a good team mate, and isn’t producing enough to , to not follow the rules.
And with AJ how do most teams back up catchers, produce with only playing once or twice a week.
And teams consider catcher as a defensive position, so they don’t expect much.
Hpwolfe
This is nothing new about Puig, he has been this way, since he first came up.
The only difference, was that he was producing at a high level then, so he got away with more then.
And apparently he didn’t learn a thing, or he just doesn’t care.
MJ , your tone speaks volumes.
Hp
Because I keep on reading and hearin g, that Puig hasn’t been a good citizen this year, like we all thought.
And I think Roberts is a guy that is easy to get along with.
And I know Roberts went out of his way, to try to help Puig this year.
They hired a guy named Bravo?
Badger
Then Bravo is the problem.
Have you watched the Bravo Channel?
Bravo is just a bunch of quote reality shows, with a bunch of ego centric quote stars.
Is it Vincent Bravo PhD or Vinnie Bravo B.S.C.. It makes a difference.
According to the LA Times, I believe. Right between Abel and Charlie.