Dodgers Daily: June 5th, 2013: Kershaw Struggles Again, Puig Is Human, Here Come The A's

Hello,

In the finale of their three game series with the Padres, the Dodgers lost 6-2. LA won 2 of 3 in the series. That slightly redeems them from being swept in LA by the Padres earlier this season. 

The Dodgers have a lot of issues, but one specific area of concern is Clayton "The Man" Kershaw. One of the best pitchers in the MLB continues to struggle. On Wednesday he only lasted 6 innings, he gave up 7 hits, 2 earned runs and 3 walks as he falls to 5-4 on the season. Although Kershaw added 9 strikeouts and his ERA remains at a very low 1.93. If LA's best pitcher can't be consistently good then this pitching staff is in a lot of trouble.

While it's good for a pitcher to be under 2, it's not good for a hitter to be under .200. It seems that's exactly where Andre Ethier is headed. He continues his disappearing act, Wednesday he was 0-3 and his batting average drops to .230. Would he even be playing if Carl Crawford and Matt Kemp were healthy? I certainly hope the Dodgers don't take Yasiel Puig out of the lineup once those two players come back. We already know what kind of player Ethier is, let's give Puig every opportunity to learn how to be a key player for the Dodgers for many years to come.

Puig showed that he's human, he was 0 for 4 on Wednesday as his batting averages decreases to .417. Although he wasn't the only Dodger not hitting yesterday. Padres pitcher Jason Marquis held LA hitless for over 6 innings. The Dodgers only ended up with 5 hits, two of those hits were solo homers by Scott Van Slyke and Tim Federowicz. Federowicz seems to be still be learning how to hit major league pitching, but he seems to have some pop in his bat. Van Slyke seems to be a better hitter at this point of his career. I do wonder if either one of them has it takes to be major contributors for LA for the next few years.

In the non-exciting chase for 26th place in runs in MLB, the Royals lead the Dodgers 214-208. Kansas City scored 4 runs yesterday, they were able to get a little breathing room over the Dodgers. LA was able to stretch out their lead over the completely falling apart Nationals. Although the Dodgers were only able to score 2 runs Wednesday, that's one more than the Nationals had. Washington now has 201 runs and it seems they could be done for this season. 

The Dodgers continue their home stand today with a 4 game series with one of the best MLB teams. The Atlanta Braves come to town on a roll, they've won 5 in a row and 7 of their last 10 games. On Wednesday the Braves completed a 3 game sweep of the Pirates. Atlanta is running away in the NL East, they are now 37-22. They lead the second place Nationals by 7.5 games. Atlanta now has a 97% chance of making the playoffs. 

Today's Dodgers scheduled starting pitcher is Zack Greinke (2-1, 4.80 ERA). So far Greinke isn't providing very much return following the Dodgers $147 million investment in him. I never was real excited by the Greinke signing and that was before I knew he'd let himself get into a stupid fight. Pitching for the Braves will be Tim Hudson (4-4, 4.80 ERA). Hudson, making $9 million this year is clearly the better deal. Thankfully the Dodgers second best pitcher will be back on Friday, Hyun-Jin Ryu. 

Here comes the A's charging up the AL West standings once again. The A's have won 16 of their last 19 games and improve to 36-25. Oakland trails Texas by only 1.5 games. (According to Deadspin.com Texas' payroll is $59 million more than the A's) The Rangers don't seem to have missed a beat with Josh Hamilton and Mike Napoli leaving. Although the Red Sox have benefited much more from an ex-Ranger than the Angels have. I've always thought Hamilton was a bit overrated. I really soured on him at the end of last season as he acted like he was done playing for the season in spite of there still being a few more games to play. Hamilton is hitting .218, with only 8 homers and 18 RBIs. Another player not living up to their contract. 

Billy Beane, made famous in the book and movie "Moneyball", continues to be the Oakland's General Manager. He also continues doing a magic job with the A's limited payroll. The A's made the playoffs last season after winning the final game of the regular season against the Rangers. The A's won that game 12-5, which is the same game Hamilton nonchalantly misplayed a simple catch. Oakland then lost to the Tigers 3-2 in the ALDS.

This season the A's have the 26th highest payroll in MLB. Their payroll is $148 million less than the Dodgers. What could Beane do if he had the Dodgers payroll? Beane won the 2012 Executive Of The Year.

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