Game 89, 2014

Dodgers at Rockies, 5:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

It’s a pitching mismatch, but the teams still have to go out and score runs and play defense. Clayton Kershaw brings his June Pitcher of the Month credentials and his 9-2 record with a 2.04 ERA to the hill against Jair Jurrjens, who has spent the entire season pitching in AAA for the Reds’ Louisville farm team. He was an All-Star in 2011 for the Braves but has fizzled since, playing mostly in the minors since the middle of 2012. This season he has a 4.46 ERA over 34 1/3 innings at Louisville.

Ramirez is in the lineup, so I guess they’ve decided not to put him on the DL and just hope the three-day All Star Break is enough time for his shoulder and legs to recover.

39 thoughts on “Game 89, 2014

  1. Dodger musings: Koufax was primarily a two-pitch pitcher with blazing fastball (never clocked best I can find) and likely history’s best curve. I’ve heard about a few forkballs and maybe occasional other pitches, none of that confirmed.

    What if Koufax had had a slider anywhere close to Kerhaw’s?

    Back in Koufax’s day the Dodgers didn’t want pitchers throwing sliders, fearing what the stress on arms might do…if a pitcher was imported with one, did they let him throw it?

    Another what-if: he wouldn’t have, but what if Koufax fooled around and developed a knuckleball good enough to throw in a game, then followed one of those jaw-dropping curves with it? There was no internet to explode back in the day, but some kind of cosmic event surely would have happened.

    A last what-if: what if Kershaw developed a knuckler good enough just to show occasionally (also highly unlikely). Would the 29 other teams try to get him banned?

    • They might try for that ban right now!

      Nice musings. As someone posted on a Dodgers.com story, I’m sure glad someone we recognize right now as being historical is pitching for the team I root for!

      • I’d have been happy if we’d just known as much sports medicine when he was pitching as we do now. The docs might have been able to fix or treat the traumatic arthritis which ended his career.

  2. Eric Stephen factoid: “Kershaw only threw 93 pitches but was pinch hit for in the top of the ninth, robbing him of an attempt to join Tom Glavine (1995, 1997) and Pat Rapp (1994, 1995) as the only pitchers with two shutouts in Denver.”

    DM said it didn’t make sense to leave him in a 9-0 game. Sometimes what makes sense for a special player like Kershaw differs from what makes sense for ordinary players.

  3. AJ his usual insightful self in Gurnick’s recap–

    “Catcher A.J. Ellis said the reason Kershaw has taken his multi-Cy Young game to an even
    higher level is the ability to command the curve and slider together.

    “He’s keeping both breaking balls down in the zone,” said Ellis. “He would have an ‘A’ slider but a ‘C’ or ‘D’ curve, or an ‘A’ curve but a ‘C’ or ‘D’ slider. Now they’re both electric strikeout pitches. That’s why he’s having strikeout totals unmatched in his career. You see a lot of clubs attacking early in the count, first-pitch swinging with a chance of getting a hit. If they don’t, he stays in the game longer.”

    Also has good insight from an opponent–

    “I think his slider right now, to me, is the best pitch in the game for anybody,” said Rockies center fielder Drew Stubbs. “He’s throwing it harder this year than I’ve ever seen before. It’s 87 to 90 mph and the arm slot it comes out of, it looks like a fastball then just disappears. It’s just a really tough pitch to lay off of when it’s down and in to a right-hander.”

    To me getting “inside” like this is reporting at the level it should be but often doesn’t reach. A reporter may ask dumb questions. Examples abound. But then one may ask the wrong guy good questions and get “duh” or canned answers. Gurnick found a way to get good stuff.

  4. From the recap: “After the game, Jurrjens was taken to a local hospital with breathing problems.” I hope that’s just adjusting to mile-high Denver rather than anything more serious.

  5. Hopefully this is truly Independence Day for the Dodgers — separating themselves from the rest of the pack!

  6. Kersh should get bonus innings for shutting ’em down in Coors Field.

  7. Is Kershaw finished for the night or do you think he pitches the 9th?

  8. Old Friend Stults blanked the Giants on four hits in seven innings in the Padres’ 2-0 win today. He entered the game with the highest ERA of any qualifier in either league at 5.36.

  9. He won’t have quite enough innings yet but Clayton is headed toward having the best ERA in the NL (a familiar spot for him) and K/9.

  10. Always liked Jurrjens’ when he was with the Braves. If it wasn’t for it being the Dodgers, I would feel a bit sad to see him get hit so hard.

    • With the best OPS+ on the team, he is more than adequate replacement for any of the outfielders.

      • Wow – I didn’t realize that he had the best OPS+ for the whole team.

        • Not all that bad against righties, as he has a good eye, but doesn’t hit with power against them, though he got a dinger off a righty, his first, the other night.

  11. By the way: Happy Birthday US of A. My son is curious what your country would like for a gift! 🙂

  12. If I remember right, the Dodgers haven’t fared well vs. pitchers making their debut or first time vs. them.