Wednesday, June 14, 2006 |
Pickoff Moves
Today's Birthdays
Greg Brock LAN b. 1957, played 1982-1986. The first of the really big rookie player busts of my lifetime, and one of the reasons I take Dodger player development with such large grains of salt. The man who was supposed to replace Steve Garvey but never could; Garvey went to the Padres and continued to produce at a high level, including a .400/.429/.600 line in the 1984 NLDS. Meantime, Brock stunk it up in LA, unable to hit lefties; the man billed as "the best power hitting prospect the Dodgers have had since Duke Snider" never lived up to the outstanding numbers he posted at San Antonio and Albuquerque, where he broke franchise home run records. Very nearly the definition of a replacement-level player, he only posted double-digit VORP scores twice in his Dodger career (11.1 in 1983 and 12.6 in 1985). Moved to the Brewers in 1987, he posted a good average but became an offensive liability thereafter; the Dodgers replaced him with the even weaker-hitting Franklin Stubbs. Brock retired after the 1991 season, a reminder that not every youth movement pays off.
Don Newcombe BRO,LAN b. 1926, played 1949-1951, 1954-1958, All-Star: 1949-1951, 1955. From the doghouse to the penthouse: Newcombe was a brilliant, fiery, hard-throwing right-hander, and the first black pitcher in major league baseball. A Top 40 Dodger, he was also the only player to win the Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, and MVP awards. Infamous for late-season collapses, his drinking caught up with him at the end of his career; after a trade to Cincinnati and retirement following the 1960 season, he recovered to become a vice president with the Dodgers, where he counseled other players with substance abuse problems.
Pounding: Padres 9, Dodgers 1
As I did the last time the Padres were beating up the Dodgers, I called up my friend Jen in San Diego to see how the Pads had been doing; sure enough, they couldn't hit a lick and were on a 2-5 skid prior to the Dodgers coming to town. You're welcome, Jen.Anyway, Chad Billingsley got the callup, Odalis Perez bumped to the pen, and Joel Guzman demoted to AAA Las Vegas, all of which qualify as Good Things, Guzman more because he needs regular playing time. Jae Seo claimed to have a sore shoulder, but a later exam found nothing; well, they say that now.
Roster Notes
- Bartolo Colón will come off the DL this weekend, but the team hasn't announced who it will move to adjust the 25-man roster.
- Supposedly the team is still shopping Ervin Santana for an impact bat, and that damned Carl Crawford rumor won't die.
- Jered Weaver becomes the first Angel to win his first four starts since Bo Belinsky. Omen?
- "There are a lot of different ways to evaluate performances," Mike Scioscia said after being cornered about Bartolo Colón's less-than-stellar start for Salt Lake, one in which he gave up six runs on nine hits and three home runs. Sure, Mike, and we'll be grinding our teeth through each gopherball he gives up.
- Top Angels draft pick Hank Conger has agreed in principle to a $1.35M signing bonus, and expected to sign a contract Friday.
- In addition to the roster moves noted above, the Dodgers placed Eric Gagné on the DL.
- Dioner Navarro will be optioned to Las Vegas once he returns from the DL.
I didn't know about Necombe, but one year as a kid I had a Dodgers calendar that listed Greg Brock's birthday on the same day as mine. For some reason, I never forgot that.
Sometimes stat lines don’t tell us everything we need to know. Bartolo Colon wasn’t trying to put up a no-hit performance in his last Triple-A start. The team wanted him working on velocity and keeping the movement on his pitches there despite his inconsistent release. The ball was coming out of his hand in the mid-90s. He also had no problems on Tuesday, the day after his start. Colon isn’t going to need another rehab start as was speculated. He’ll be back for the Angels during their weekend interleague series against the Padres.
: 6/14/2006 09:17:00 AMBrock had power and patience, but never a good batting average - and that last point was made worse by his home stadium.
: 6/14/2006 10:15:00 AMUnderstood about Brock's plate discipline, Anon, which was clearly outstanding, but that just puts him in the Scott Hatteberg class of player (and not even really that -- Hatty had a nearly 20-VORP season a couple years back).
: 6/14/2006 11:28:00 AM : 6/14/2006 01:38:00 PMRob, which of their prospects would make Conger another power hitter with weak contact skills? And weak contact skills would more likely mean he won't be a free swinger, which seems to be your most hated type of player. So, would you rather have a Glaus (or worst case would be Dallas) player (who walks a lot but generally has a BA of about .250) or an Eckstein type player (who has no power)? I know your answer, Rob, but if it is true that he has power but no contact (which no one can say for sure since he hasn't even played a professional game) then isn't he the type of player that you appear to want over people like Cabrera, Kennedy, Mathis, et al?
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