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Monday, April 17, 2006 |
Pickoff Moves
Today's Birthdays
Stan Andrews BRO b. 1917, played 1944-1945, d. 1995-06-10Marquis Grissom LAN b. 1967, played 2001-2002
Keith Johnson ANA b. 1971, played 2000
Ad Yale BRO b. 1870, played 1905, d. 1948-04-27
The Infighting Over James Loney Begins
Some time ago, in an effort to get True Blue LA jump-started a little, I went over there and posted a poll about which minor league player would be the biggest improvement over his major league counterpart, and one of the options I gave was James Loney over Nomar "D.L." Garciaparra. Eleven games and 33 at bats into his major league career, and he's hitting .182/.250/.242, leading to a bunch of fighting over at last night's Dodger Thoughts gameday thread as to the merits of Loney even appearing on the major league roster at this time. (Crack open the comments starting at about 500; because the Toaster's software doesn't support threading, the thread more or less starts at 514, 535, and really gets going starting with 565 and 576.) Loney clearly isn't ready for the Show, and needs 500 or so at bats in Las Vegas before he can compete at this level, and maybe some in the majors as well. Some say he's a John Olerud type waiting to happen, others like his swing better and think he's a star of a higher caliber. Whatever, it's clear that letting Choi vanish into the Boston night wasn't even a remotely good idea.Roster Notes
- Eric Gagné will return to the closer's role upon his return from the DL, which scares me. Gagné has no feeling from his elbow to halfway up his arm.
- Nomar will probably have a minor league rehab stint, but it will be brief, according to Grady Little. Upon his return, James Loney will probably be optioned to AAA Las Vegas.
- Jeff Kent suffered a mild concussion from his hit-by-pitch in the noggin in yesterday's game, and has some blurriness in his right eye.
- That Didn't Take Long: Grady Little has changed his mind, and has anointed Takashi Saito the Dodgers' setup man.
- Neither of K-Rod nor Tim Salmon are expected to hit the DL as a result of yesterday's injuries.
- Barry Bonds' knee and elbow are "both swollen nearly to the point of rigidity, despite his anti-inflammatory diet" according to Tim Brown in the Times.
His front leg was once the hard side that helped generate torque for the fly balls that seemed to never land. Now it lands and bows, bends, crumples. He never gets off his back side. He's a different hitter.
Bonds also took a fastball to the triceps yesterday. - Noah Lowry is getting close to returning to duty, throwing off a bullpen mound. He had a strained oblique.
- Armando Benitez is cleared to pitch again, and will make at least one rehab appearance.
- Adrian Beltre, who has been mostly batting fifth, will find himself even further down in the order now that he is batting .109 and possesses neither a home run nor an RBI.
- There's already speculation that Esteban Loiaza might be moved to the bullpen after an 11.42 ERA in two starts, failing to get out of the fifth inning in either appearance.
- Milton Bradley is already reporting leg soreness, but I say this as a cautionary measure; Bradley went 3-4 in Saturday's game.
More Small Sample Size Theater, Western Division Edition
The 6-6 Angels lead the AL West, while the Rockies are an improbable half-game back of the first-place Giants. The Dodgers trail by two games back, and last year's champions, the Padres, are 4-7 and in the division cellar, three games back.Happy Birthday, Dodger Math
Dodger Math, FKA DePodesta For President, is one year old. Belated Happy Birthday!
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