Braves Need Relief Pitching More than Outfielders

July 25, 2011 braves / teams
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The Braves have one of the best bullpens in the major leagues, but beyond Johnny Venters, Craig Kimbrel and Eric O’Flaherty, the bullpen is one of the worst in baseball.  The back end of the bullpen is lucky to pitch a scoreless inning and with the inability of several starters to pitch into the seventh inning, the bullpen is constantly called upon in close games. If the Braves hope to advance into the playoffs, they are going to need to replace Proctor, Linebrink, and C. Martinez.  Even Mike Minor might be a better option (though another lefty might be excessive).  They need to pick up some average relievers from teams out of contention.

With the return of Chipper to the lineup, the outfield group of Prado, Heyward, McLouth and Schafer, though not ideal, is less of a problem than the overuse of the top relievers and the inconsistency of the back end of the bullpen.  If I was an opposing team facing the Braves in a series, I would encourage them to take lots of pitches and make the Braves go to their bullpen often, by the third and fourth game, you would be facing more of the back end of the bullpen in close game and steal a few.

Young Pitchers Need to Speak Up

June 30, 2011 players / reflections
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I worry about young pitchers in baseball.  There has been a history of certain managers overusing pitchers and blowing out their arms (Dusty Baker, Joe Torre). Young pitchers are not eligible for free agency for six years and if they are not careful, they might never enjoy a big pay day due to the pressure to win today.  It’s unusual for a young pitcher to complain to a manager or his team that he’s been overworked until it’s too late.

I always return to the likes of Mark Prior, Kerry Wood, and Carlos Zambrano. The Cubs had a pitching staff that should have lasted for many years, but ever since that playoff series where the Cubs were upset by the Marlins, these pitchers never really reclaimed their fame.

Look at the Dodger bullpen in the last five years: Broxton and Mota were dominant and clearly overused.

If young pitchers don’t speak up, they might cost themselves big money in the future.  The owners and general managers and managers are not doing them any favors and are pressured to win.  Some might even not care about burning someone out if they are in the last year of their contract or they remain in the pennant race.

I love the arms of Johnny Venters and Craig Kimbrel, but fear they are the next to experience overwork under the pressure to win.  They are certain to have great and long careers if they are managed correctly.  It’s hard to find reliable relievers and with mediocre offenses, every game is close.  From a team perspective, it makes sense to throw them out there as much as they want to insure the teams win. Young players are expendable; every year there is a new crop of young arms. From the perspective of the young players, if they want to enjoy a big time contract when free agency comes, they need to be a be self-interested or they will make the major league minimum their entire career. Hitters (outside of catchers) don’t have this to worry about, and young pitchers need to speak up or get their agents to speak on their behalf.

Anemic Baseball on Getaway Days

June 29, 2011 games
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Davey Johnson started one of the worst lineups vs. the Angels today, including four veterans: Matt Stairs, Jerry Hairston Jr., Alex Cora and Ivan Rodriguez.  Not very kind to Jordan Zimmermann, who pitched his eleventh straight quality start (eight innings, no earned runs).  The Angels won 1-0.  Is it just me or is getaway day supposed to be the day when you basically throw your worst offense on the field ?   I find it hard to credit the pitchers for their efforts; it seems like the offenses were asleep.

Even the Dodgers lost 1-0 to the Twins after giving up the lone run in the bottom of the first.  This is terrible, anemic baseball to enjoy.  Are we happy no one is on steroids anymore ?

 

Dodgers Erupt The Day After

June 28, 2011 teams
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The day after the Dodgers scored more than a run in an inning for the first time in two weeks, they proceeded to score 15 runs on 25 hits against the Twins on Monday.  They had more than a run in the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th.  I guess someone told them how anemic their offense had been, and they decided to prove they could have aplenty of multi-run innings if they wanted. Twins are back to their losing ways with 6 losses in a row.

In other news, Dodgers filed Chapter 11.

Kershaw vs. Weaver: Dodgers and Angels

June 27, 2011 games
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I had the chance to see a classic pitcher’s duel yesterday at Dodger Stadium between Clayton Kershaw and Jered Weaver.  Both pitchers were stingy with runs for two teams headed in opposite directions.  You always can tell tough pitching.  Even when they got in trouble (runners on third with less than 2 outs), they found a way out of it.  Though Weaver has been better so far this season, it was Kershaw’s day, going nine innings, striking out 11 and walking no one.

The Dodgers are really spiraling.  With the rally in the ninth, it was the first time the Dodgers scored more than one run in a single inning for two weeks. Ironically, the first time was in the ninth inning to rally back after Vernon Well’s homerun put the Angels on top.  This comeback also assured Kershaw the victory as opposed to the loss.

There are many signs of the Dodgers struggles recently, completing their longest homestand with a 4-8 record.  Take Saturday’s lineup when Matt Kemp was thrown out, they only had two players in their lineup with a homerun (Ethier with 7 and Loney with 4).  The rest of the lineup had 0 homeruns on the season.  Apart from Kemp and Ethier’s monster starts, the Dodgers are not receiving much in terms of offense, and the bullpen has been atrocious, being outscored 91 to 41 in the 8th and 9th innings.  With the way the Dodgers and Angels have been playing (Angels are 8-4 on their longest roadtrip of the season), it’s pretty remarkable that the Dodgers got a walkoff on Sunday. Mostly due to the unexpected clutch hitting of Tony Gwynn Jr. who drove in the tying run with a triple and the game winning single with two outs in the bottom of the 9th.  Instead of pinch hitting the Dodgers elected to let Kershaw stay in and hit since he’s a better offensive option (more hits, 11, than any other pitcher this season) than their bench players.  He singled and scored the tying run.

It should be interesting week for Dodgers as the end of the week marks the “expected” decision time for meeting payroll for McCourt.

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