6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog

Why Isn't D.J. Houlton Getting A Chance? Phillies 5, Dodgers 4

Yesterday afternoon in the Dodger Thoughts gameday thread (see comment 260):

Tomko's mental game betrays him, for whatever reason.

I've thought for a while that if you could take Tomko's stuff and pair it with Hendy's improved mental game, you'd have a top shelf pitcher. Too bad "if" can't happen sometimes.

Hendrickson gets about all out of his ability that could be expected, IMO. He just doesn't have a whole lot of ability, sad to say.

Tomko's had far worse games, but the wonder is that he still has a job. Unfortunately, the problem the Dodgers really have is the lack of even league-average starters to throw at the wall. It might be more interesting to watch D.J. Houlton give it the old college try, or Eric Stults, but the Dodgers prefer veteran presence. A loss to the Phillies was a present the Dodgers most certainly did not need.

Recap • Yahoo Box

A-Rod Reanimated

Actually, he says he feels "alive", but the news that he's some kind of undead wouldn't shock me in the least.

Dodgers, Angels Announce New Spanish-Language Radio Deals

The Angels have reached a five-year agreement with KWKW ESPN Deportes (1330 AM) to broadcast Angels games in the future, thus opening the door to Angels English-language broadcasts appearing on 830 AM KLAA.

KWKW is the current Spanish-language broadcast home for Dodger games, and they, too, will be switching stations, according to the Times changing to 930 AM KHJ. According to the article above, the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer team will also use KWKW as their flagship station, although no deal has been finalized. The big difference is that the Angels were willing to allow some games to be preempted by Galaxy games on KWKW, where the Dodgers were not.

"That's what got all this started," said Marty Greenspun, the Dodgers' chief operating officer. "We've had Spanish-language broadcasts longer than any other professional sports team, and we thought preempting our games would be unfair to our fans."

...

Not only will KHJ broadcast every Dodgers game, but Hall of Fame broadcaster Jaime Jarrin, Pepe Yñiguez and Fernando Valenzuela will stay as the announcing team. Jarrin, who became the Dodgers' Spanish-language announcer in 1959, a year after the team moved to Los Angeles from Brooklyn, has mixed feelings.

"I'm excited," he said of the new deal. "It's fantastic. But I was with KWKW for 51 years and a little bit of my heart will always be with KWKW."

KWKW has carried Spanish-language broadcasts of Dodger games since 1958, though not continuously.

Something else to consider:

[KWKW station president Jim] Kalmenson said another factor contributing to the deal with the Angels was the fact they have more Latin players on their roster than the Dodgers -- including star outfielder Vladimir Guerrero and pitcher Francisco Rodriguez -- and owner Arte Moreno is a fourth-generation Mexican American.

The Snakes Are For Real

Says Chris Jaffe:

Here’s how it works in Arizona. The game begins. If the starter pitches well, then it’s no problem. Wait until late, and let one of their dynamite relievers—Jose Velarde, Tony Pena, Brandon Lyon, and Doug Slaten all have ERAs under 3.00. And Juan Cruz is well above league average as well. Keep in mind they play in one of the game’s great hitters’ parks in a league that averages over 4.5 runs a game. As long as the starter has a quality outing, they’ll win a lot of games.

But what happens when the starter has a bad game? What happens when Micah Owings gets shelled for seven runs in four innings? Or Livian Hernandez [sic] receives one of his many poundings? Do you really want to waste one of the big five in such lowly leveraged situations? You might have to just to eat up some innings, but you’re better off going to the mop up men.

And that’s where the secret lies. The D-backs aren’t 10 games over their expected mark because their relievers are so fantastic. They’re ten games over because their bullpen is bipolar. Arizona’s mop-up men stink. I don’t mean they’re below average—mop-up men by definition are below average—but even by the standards of last man on the roster they are terrible. They can turn any deficient [sic] into an insurmountable one.

Roster Notes

• Willy Aybar's season is over after spending time in substance abuse rehab, and Tuesday had hamate bone surgery.
• Randy Wolf does not expect to start another game this year for the Dodgers, but might get a relief role.
• Nomar is taking dry swings with a bat but probably won't "step up" his rehab until next week.
• Bartolo Colon will not return as a reliever; rotation or bust.
• Ervin Santana will remain in the rotation, and Dustin Moseley will be booted back to the bullpen.
• Because of rotation juggling, a Weaver-vs.-Weaver matchup will not happen in the upcoming road series in Seattle.
• The Angels recalled Brandon Wood from AAA Salt Lake as insurance after Figgy's injury, and optioned Marc Gwyn back.
• Via Matt Welch, Curt Schilling calls out Hokie Joe as one of the "top 7-10 young pitchers in all of baseball".

Labels: angels, dodgers, injuries, phillies, recaps, yankees