Look At The Big Picture

As bad as the score was, Ryu was not bombed.  He gave up no HR’s – it was really the walks and wildness that did him in.  The Dodgers had the same number of extra-base hits as the Rockies.  Yes, he was out 10 days and yes, it was Coors Field.  Let’s not forget that he had not pitched for two years, so FAZ is trying to manage his innings so that he is available in September and October. That’s the big picture.  He wants to pitch every 5 days.  So does Brandon McCarthy – so much so that they are not going to tell you when they might be hurt.

Now we find out that Kenta Maeda has been battling hamstring tightness for a few weeks.  8.1 innings may have fatigued his leg to the point of where extra rest is necessary.  I don’t know and you don’t know, but the medical staff knows and you can best believe it is totally documented in their medical file.  Again, when we criticize FAZ for their use of the DL, we are talking out of our ass! We just don’t know.  What we do know is this:

  • Brandon McCarthy is being built up gradually after his TJ Surgery;
  • Ryu is also being built up slowly after missing two years;
  • Scott Kazmir is out for the foreseeable future;
  • Julio Urias is having his innings limited to 180 or less, so he started late;
  • Rich Hill is trying to buildup a callous on his finger to prevent blistering;
  • Alex Wood has not pitched deep into games for a few years; and
  • Kenta Maeda has some arms questions (not sure what they are) that causes him to have his innings watched.

We know all of that has to be managed, so when Ryu loses and gives up 10 runs let’s lose our minds even though after the pitching debacle, the Dodgers are still the #1 Team in Baseball in Team ERA (by a good margin).  When you give up 10 runs this early in the year and still are #1, that says something!  But let’s forget about the Big Picture and nitpick the Little Picture?  After being down 10-0 the Dodgers came back to score 7 unanswered runs.  They will be fine as long as we don’t all lose our minds.  I believe Orel said that outside of Aprils, the Rockies have had only 2 other winnings months in the past 8 years.

Rants & Raves

  • Whoever thought Chase Utley was finished is a dumbass! Me included.  Will we ever learn that the professionals know more than us?  Probably not!
  • When was the last time the dodgers had two (count ’em 2) catchers hitting over .270?  It’s been a while… Ellis, Butera, nevermind…
  • Maybe Chris Hatcher should pitch in Colorado… BTW, his ERA is 3.00.
  • Willie Calhoun went 3-5 with his 5th HR and Alex Verdugo was 0-0 with 4 walks.  Maybe he should leadoff?
  • Josh Sborz went 5 shutout innings for Tulsa and Kyle Farmer was 4-5 as Garlick hit his 9th HR.
  • Ferguson went 6 at RC, giving up 2 earned runs.
  • Gavin Lux went 4-5 at GL and raised his BA to a tepid .200
  • I see Jharel Cotton has been sent back to AAA.
  • I also see that Jose Peraza is at .235 and all of his hitting metrics shout loudly about his lack of punch… but he only has 1 error!

This article has 23 Comments

  1. Mark

    Actually only five of the ten runs Ryu gave up, were earned runs!

    That is because Barnes tried to get the lead runner on a bunt, but he made a bad throw that Corey couldn’t pick up, and catch.

    I don’t get worried when I know they were still fighting to win this game, in the ninth.

    And because of that, they made the Rockies use their closer, after they had a ten run lead, at one point in this game.

    And the Rockies never scored another run, after they scored the ten runs early.

    Maybe Roberts and the management, will learn something after this game, about the starting pitchers.

    The fact that these starting pitchers, need to pitch more often to stay sharp, and Roberts and the management, will keep this in mind, for now on.

    The rest seemed like it was a good idea, but it is to early in the season, to rest most of these starting pitchers, right now.

    And some of our hitters were not having good at bats, early in the game.

    On a good note Grandal is still hitting , and it isn’t July yet.

    Also Barnes got another hit too.

  2. What you wrote about the starting pitching staff sums up the problems with the staff in a nutshell and exemplifies why it cannot be trusted.
    McCarthy is still recovering from TJ surgery and with his injury history, we are waiting for his arm to fall off
    Ryu is still recovering from multiple surgeries and we are waiting for his arm to fall off
    Kazmir may not pitch again this year
    Urias may be the next big thing but won’t throw more than 160 innings this year
    Hill will have another blister if he uses his computer to open his browser and read this article
    Wood is also recovering from surgery and hasn’t worked deep into games regularly since 2015
    Maeda – well he collapsed last year down the stretch, but it’s worse than that. Since July 2016, he is 13 – 8 but with a 4.49 ERA. (122.3 IP). He had a couple of great months last year but he is a league average pitcher at best anyway.

  3. I don’t like this 10 day disabled list BS. Something new, I think. This team is using it to give guys rest. Ryu had too much rest last night. The new front office strategy:recurring 10 day disabled lists and recurring extended spring trainings. At least they SEEM smart. I can’t see how any pitcher can pitch well after being off 10 plus days. On Hatcher: his biggest worth to the team is to pitch in games like yesterday. Just consume innings. He apparently likes no pressure. The P&P boys still could be better: Pederson and Puig. I think both have hit their respective plateaus, and we cannot realistically expect anything more from them.

  4. Sborz: 58-44 strikes. Outstanding. 5 innings=10 pitches per inning. Outstanding. Kuechelish. I saw Kuechel pitch last night. The best pitcher in baseball. But he should ditch the beard.

  5. BJ and Bobbie, I agree with you. You are right Mark, we do not know if those pitchers have injuries or not. However it looks to me like they are using the 10 day DL as a strategy. I am sure the medical staff has documented everything. They have to anyway. If this continues MLB will ask for a second opinion from a neutral doc. I like FAZ most of the time. Sometimes they over think the problem.

    Hatcher looks great when he has no pressure on him. He cannot be trusted.

    The team fought hard to the end. A very good sign.

    Kershaw does not look as dominant as the past years. That is just a gut feeling I have. However, he is still better than 99.9% of the pitchers. I will take him every day of the year even when he does not have his best stuff.

    1. Idahoal

      I think your right about Kershaw, and I hope he has a better outing, against the Rockies, this time around.

      Also a pitcher like Ryu is now, has to have good command, and make good pitches on the corners, and those ten days they gave him off, didn’t allow him to stay sharp.

      I actually felt bad for Ryu yesterday, because he is still a good pitcher, and he stayed out there and pitched, and took one for the team.

      1. Idahoal

        It is early, but I also think that Kershaw is feeling, that he is not as dominate, as he has been, too.

        And that was probably why he acted that way, against the Padres young line up.

    2. All season, Kershaw has not had a good feel for his slider. He is using it a lot less as a result. Hopefully, he can figure it out!

      1. Mark

        I think that is true, but Kershaw tends to stay around the plate to much, because he doesn’t want to get behind on the count, and walk hitters, and that makes him more vulnerable, and more predictable.

        Especially when he gets behind on the count, and when he makes his first pitch, to a hitter.

        1. Both Sandy and Clayton had 3 years with ERA’s below 2.00. Clayton is at 2.40 Right Now. I’m not too worried.

          1. Mark

            I am not worried either, because it is still early, and all players regress, in time.

  6. Why is it that when a pitcher comes off the 10 day DL that many of the posters say they haven’t pitched in 10 days? That most certainly isn’t the case. Lots of work may still be done while not appearing in the games.

  7. ScdodgerFan we know he has thrown sessions but the layoff can have an effect on their sharpness. Ryu relies on pinpoint control and if he is not game sharp well you see what happens. It seems that kershaw does not perform as well on extra rest as he gets out of his routine. This is certainly debatable but this early in the year the routine may be more important than rest. They are with them everyday so they know things we don’t but it is very frustrating to go into a big series albeit early and get blown out in the first 3 innings. It will be tough tonight as we don’t hit chatwood well and kershaw has not dominated this year. I hope I am wrong go Blue!

    1. I was one of the morons suggesting that he was done.

      I liked his signing but then lost faith. Lesson learned!

  8. Now, we hear that Ryu will have his next start pushed back. There is evidently something bothering him.

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