So you’ve heard a lot about Don Mattingly and his job security recently — hell, I just wrote about it — but this article from Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports spread around yesterday, and it touched on all the common refrains you’ve been hearing, including harping on the team’s hitting with RISP. They wonder why the players don’t spend more ... Read More »
Category Archives: Opinions
Feed SubscriptionOn Don Mattingly’s hot seat, the need for a manager with ‘fire’, and potential replacements
The discontent with the Dodgers was loud and clear after yesterday’s loss, and for good reason. The team is last in the NL West, have the sixth-worst record in the MLB, and are tied for the fourth-worst run differential in baseball. It’s a horrible time to be the manager of the Dodgers right now, and we all know it, including ... Read More »
Don Mattingly isn’t going to use Kenley Jansen in the closer role, but it’s probably for the best
The Dodgers handed Brandon League a three-year contract and the closer’s role heading into the 2013 season, but his predictable fall from temporary grace in the role has led to continued questions about his viability as the closer, especially with Kenley Jansen waiting in the wings. It’s easy to see why questions are being asked, as any comparison between the ... Read More »
6 Days Of Dee Gordon
In six short days with the team in 2013, Dee Gordon has already showcased everything that once made him a top prospect and everything that made him one of the worst players in the MLB last year. It’s a tiny sample, yet he’s managed to fit in so much amazement and failure that his performance has been noteworthy, regardless. In ... Read More »
Trading things of value for Mike Scioscia are what my nightmares are made of
Mike Scioscia‘s job with the Angels is in jeopardy due to their slow start, much like people seem to think Don Mattingly‘s job is. Ken Rosenthal throws gas on both fires by suggesting that the Angels deal Scioscia to the Dodgers. Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com believes Angels manager Mike Scioscia needs a fresh start and proposes the Dodgers as the ... Read More »
Okay, so Luis Cruz has been amazingly terrible this year, but why?
Luis Cruz has been … not-so-good in 2013. Okay, he’s been absolutely atrocious. Just terrible. Mike Petriello at Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness has gone through all the statistical hoops to show exactly how bad Cruz has been in 2013 (go read it, even I didn’t realize how terrible he’s been). Hint: It’s bad. 2013 lowest wOBA, min 50 PA 5. ... Read More »
Padres President/CEO implies Zack Greinke is autistic, lies to fans, outs Carlos Quentin as liar
Tom Garfinkel, President and CEO of the Padres, spoke with season-ticket holders about the Zack Greinke/Carlos Quentin brawl, and he placed the blame on Greinke for the incident. While somewhat deluded, it’s not all that surprising. However, also included on the tape that Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports acquired is audio of him essentially mocking Greinke (who has social anxiety ... Read More »
C.J. Nitkowski thinks Matt Kemp hangs over zone as much as Carlos Quentin, why he’s wrong
C.J. Nitkowski, for reasons unknown, decided to inject himself into the Zack Greinke/Carlos Quentin/Dodgers/Padres brawl discussion, basically saying that Quentin doesn’t hang over the plate any more than Matt Kemp does. Carlos Quentin stands on top of the plate, hangs over the strike zone? You sure about that? twitter.com/CJNitkowski/st… — CJ Nitkowski (@CJNitkowski) April 12, 2013 Kemp, same camera, same ... Read More »
A Dodgers Opening Day roster prediction with Gregg and Castellanos, but without Capuano
Opening Day for the Dodgers is Monday, and since Spring Training feels like it has taken forever, it’s about damn time. Given the closeness of the start of the season though, it’s a bit odd that there are so many question marks as to what will happen with the roster. Every team has to deal with decisions on the 24th ... Read More »
Clutchitude: Least Clutch Plays By The 2012 Dodgers – Pitching
Baseball fans love to talk about clutch plays and clutch players, and Dodgers fans are no exception, but like with a pitcher’s best and worst pitches, there tends to be a lack of evidence presented. As such, I decided to find some basis for clutch plays and clutch players, courtesy of the WPA and Clutch statistics. WPA Most sabermetric statistics ... Read More »
Clutchitude: Least Clutch Plays By The 2012 Dodgers – Hitting
Baseball fans love to talk about clutch plays and clutch players, and Dodgers fans are no exception, but like with a pitcher’s best and worst pitches, there tends to be a lack of evidence presented. As such, I decided to find some basis for clutch plays and clutch players, courtesy of the WPA and Clutch statistics. WPA Most sabermetric statistics ... Read More »
Clutchitude: Most Clutch Plays By The 2012 Dodgers – Pitching
Baseball fans love to talk about clutch plays and clutch players, and Dodgers fans are no exception, but like with a pitcher’s best and worst pitches, there tends to be a lack of evidence presented. As such, I decided to find some basis for clutch plays and clutch players, courtesy of the WPA and Clutch statistics. WPA Most sabermetric statistics ... Read More »
Clutchitude: Most Clutch Plays By The 2012 Dodgers – Hitting
Baseball fans love to talk about clutch plays and clutch players, and Dodgers fans are no exception, but like with a pitcher’s best and worst pitches, there tends to be a lack of evidence presented. As such, I decided to find some basis for clutch plays and clutch players, courtesy of the WPA and Clutch statistics. WPA Most sabermetric statistics ... Read More »
Even gifting Andre Ethier his 35 hits probably wouldn’t exclude him from platoon questions
Andre Ethier is growing rather sick and tired of questions regarding his inability to hit left-handed pitchers and whether or not he’s going to be platooned, and he recently stated that the difference between people nagging him about it and not is an extra five hits a year. It was only one at-bat, and it was only spring training. But ... Read More »
Has Josh Beckett learned to pitch without elite velocity?
Dodgers starter Josh Beckett is one of many high-risk, high-reward types of players coming into 2013, and at the time of his acquisition, he was seen as somewhat of a throw-in. This was partially because of his contract, but the fact is that both the statistics and the scouting reports matched up to say that he looked more like a ... Read More »
Chad Moriyama Dodgers, Sabermetrics, Scouting