Jun 10 2007 04:47 PM
Let's forget Detroit, okay? The Mets are in LA for the first of two trips to Chavez Ravine to have it out with last season's NLDS opponent. The Dodgers are a good enough team, but come into this series reeling a bit and finding themselves in third place after getting beat down in a sweep in San Diego last week, and on the verge of losing 2 of 3 to the Blue Jays at home as I type this.
The Offense
LA's 10th in the league in runs scored (265) and 12th in OPS (.703).
Russell Martin is just 24 and is the star of this team, and arguably the best catcher in the league. He leads his position in OPS, runs, RBI, steals, and probably some other stuff, too. He's good. He's a converted third baseman who's very athletic, quick on his feet, and throws well (37% caught stealing).
Third base has been a revolving door, starting with Wilson Betemit, then Andy LaRoche, and now going mostly with 22-year old Tony Abreu.
Juan Pierre has been as advertised at the top of the lineup (read: shitty, with a 66 OPS+, but 19 steals and mad leadership skills). Peeps out here are already tired of his bad routes to balls and crap throwing arm packaged with his underwhelming offense. Just 4 quick years left at $9 million per...
Jeff Kent and Luis Gonzalez are both still productive, if unspectacular. Nomar's had a serious power outage with only 1 homer this year and a sub .700 OPS. Young hotshot 1B James "J-Lo" Loney was just recalled prior to this series and may see some time if Nomar doesn't get his shit together.
Grady mixes it up a lot, but he lineup will look something like this:
Rafael Furcal - SS
Juan Pierre - CF
Nomar Garciaparra - 1B
Jeff Kent - 2B
Luis Gonzalez - LF
Russell Martin - C
Andre Ethier - RF
Tony Abreu - 3B
Matt Kemp and Olmeido Seinz are the righties off the bench. Seinz will be a PH against a guy like Wagner (does well against lefties and kills fastballs) and Kemp has huge power. Betemit sucked BHMC as a starter, but has done pretty well as a pinch hitter.
I'd say our offense clearly has the edge, but, you know.
Pitching Match-ups
The Dodgers are better off in the pitching department, where they're 3rd in the league in ERA (3.60) and runs allowed, led by Brady Penny, Wednesday's starter.
| Monday, 10:10PM ET | |
|---|---|
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Wolf has won 7 games after an outstanding May, and is actually 4th in the league in strikeouts behind dudes named Hamels, Peavy, and Webb. He's been smacked around in his last couple of starts (9 ER in 10 IP) and we've done okay against lefties this year before we recently started sucking. So who knows.
| Tuesday, 10:10PM ET | |
|---|---|
 |  |
Kuo, you may remember, was the dude LA put in the rotation last year in playoffs because we sucked so hard against lefties. With Brett Tomko and lanky Mark Hendrickson in-and-out of the rotation, Kuo's getting another chance and looked good his last time out (6 IP, 1 ER, 8 K vs. San Diego). He's got good "stuff", but is erratic.
| Wednesday, 10:10PM ET | |
|---|---|
 |  |
Both team's undisputed aces lock horns in the finale. Penny comes in with no-decisions in his last 2 starts, but he was great against Toronto on Friday, giving up 1 ER in 7.2 IP with 7 K's. He was lights out last year, too, until July, so we may have caught him a month early. Thankfully we have Jorge F. Sosa going.
Saito's still the closer. He's just off the DL and got his first blown save out of the way. He's been dynamite with 30 K's in 25 IP, 16 saves, and a 1.80 ERA. Chad Billingsley is a hard-throwing late inning guy (39 K in 32 IP) and Rudy Seanez is oddly good again.
Ex-Factor
Looks like Jeff Kent's the only one for them as Brady Clark was DFA'd today.
We've got a crap-load of ex-Dodgers, though. Lo Duca, Mota, Valentin, Green, Sele, and Ricky Ledee. And Willie Randolph.
Dodgers on the web:
Everyone knows about the mostly funny [url=http://www.dodgerblues.com]DodgerBlues.com[/url], but if you want to find hard-hitting Dodger analysis and sexy Long Island-housewife jump suits, there's just one place to go:
[url=http://alyssa.mlblogs.com/alyssa/]Alyssa Milano's blog.[/url]
Alyssa on Giambi:
| ]Yes, Giambi may have made some bad choices throughout his career but I must admit, as a purist fan of baseball, I have a newfound respect for the man. Giambi has shown dignity with his honesty. Giambi has shown integrity with his candor. His statements shouldn’t be investigated . . . they should be applauded. |
Preach it, sister.
I will be in the house on Wednesday night for my 32nd birthday, and will be in the company of my extremely cool and talented neighbor who will be belting out an opera rendition of the National Anthem. Rolling with her has some sweet perks: kick-ass seats behind home plate, getting to cruise the under-belly of Dodger Stadium, meeting the organist Nancy Bea Hefley, and getting to go on the field when she sings.
Lots of pictures will be taken and I hope she's still friends with me when I get arrested for glad-handing David Wright while she's performing.
Play ball!
