Sep 08

Off-day factoid

“For the fourth straight game, a rookie starting pitcher earned the victory for the Dodgers.”

It’s true. DeLeon on Sunday, Maeda on Monday, Stripling on Tuesday, and Stewart yesterday. According to Elias Sports Bureau

it was the first time in franchise history that the Dodgers won four straight games with a rookie starter getting the win each time. The last team to do so was Oakland from Sept. 9-12, 2012.

For the record, the As’ pitchers were Tommy Milone, now pitching for the Twins; Jarrod Parker, who last pitched in OB at AAA Nashville for the As; Dan Straily, who’s having a pretty good 2016 for the Reds, although the Dodgers beat him 3-1 on May 25; and A.J. Griffin, who’s now pitching for the division-leading Texas Rangers.

The streak has probably stopped for the Dodgers, though, unless Urias picks up Kershaw in relief tomorrow night.

Oct 27

World Series Game One, 2015

New Dodgers thread above.

Mets at Royals, 5:00PM PT, TV: Fox

What we know is that one of these teams is going to break a really long World Series victory drought (even longer than the Dodgers’). The Royals last won in 1985 and the Mets in 1986.

Two righthanders go against one another: Matt Harvey for the Mets and Edinson Volquez for the Royals. Harvey’s made two postseason starts and been good in both (2-0, 2.84 ERA, 4 BB, 16 Ks in 12 2/3 innings). Volquez has also made three postseason starts. He lost a game in the ALDS to the Astros and split two in the ALCS with the Jays. His cumulative stats in this postseason are 1-2, 4.32 ERA, 12 BB and 15 Ks in 16 2/3 innings.

Oct 07

“Wait till next year!”

There’s enough blame for the Dodgers’ failure to advance to go around, but here’s what sticks with me: the offense was 8 for 41 with runners in scoring position in four games. Three of those four games were decided by one run, and the fourth was decided by two. Had the offense just gotten two, three or four more timely hits the result might have been exactly the opposite of what it was.

Sep 08

Dodgers win, but oh you kids

The Dodgers managed to throw the ball away three times on one play in the sixth inning, allowing two runs to score. Fortunately the Dodgers had already scored eight runs by that point. With the 9-4 win (Kershaw’s 18th) they have a 3 1/2 game edge on the Giants, who were idle tonight. The D-Backs open a three-game series in AT&T Park with the Giants tomorrow.

Sep 05

How many innings can one arm throw?

According to Dodgers.com Beckett is thinking about retirement.

Beckett needs surgery to repair a torn labrum and a lesion in his left hip, whether he pitches again or not.

[snip]

He’s a high-mileage 34-year-old, having thrown 2,051 innings in 13 big league seasons.

I don’t doubt Beckett might decline a four-month rehab, as the article suggests is needed. He hurts, he’s made more than $116M in his career and has a couple of small kids, so why not retire? Other than the no-hitter this year I suspect he hasn’t had much fun this season. He even says “It takes four hours of [therapy] work to do two hours on the field.”

I think baseball may have seen the last of Josh Beckett as a player. But that bit about his innings pitched raised a question for me — is 2,051 IP high-mileage? Over 13 years he’s averaged 209 IP over a 162-game period. He was a full-time starter when he was 22 years old. Among Dodger starters:

  • Dan Haren is 33 and has thrown 2,202 innings in 12 MLB seasons for a 162-game average of 215 IP.
  • Kevin Correia is 34 but has thrown only 1,397 MLB innings for a 162-game average of 168 IP in 12 seasons.
  • Roberto Hernandez is 34 with 1,248 MLB innings for a 162-game average of 190 IP over 9 seasons.
  • Hyun-Jin Ryu is 27, has 7 years of Korean League experience and 1,269 innings there in addition to the 336 he’s got in the big leagues, averaging roughly 178 IP (the Korean Leagues throw off the 162-game calculation).
  • Chad Billingsley is 30 and has 1,175 MLB innings for a 162-game average of 195 IP over 7 seasons (and 12 innings).
  • Kershaw, believe it or not, is 27 but has 1,349 MLB innings himself and has averaged 223 IP over a 162-game period in 7 seasons.

Of the three guys who are the same age as Beckett, Haren’s the closest in hard use. He’s always been a starter. Correia pitched his first five years in relief and as a spot starter. Hernandez was a full-time starter in his second year in the bigs.

If Beckett is high-mileage, then Haren, averaging 215 IP, and Kershaw, averaging 223 IP, are the two guys who could also be classified as such. We can only hope Kershaw doesn’t injure himself throwing that many innings every year.

Jul 13

Puig!

Heh. Youth will be served.

Addendum (from SI.com)

If anyone wants to discuss the Home Run Derby, Chris Berman’s volubility or Minneapolis’s weather, this seems like a good spot. The Derby has a new format this year, so study up.