Hello,
The Dodgers keep on rolling, culminating their series with the Cubs by winning the 4th game. In fact LA swept the series. Although the Dodgers won all 4 games in this series, they didn't do it in a very attractive way. They were able to get away with their less than inspiring play against the Cubs, but they won't be able to do the same thing in their next series. LA is going up several levels in competition when they play the Cardinals Monday to Thursday.
Who's the heroes in a 1-0 game, well obviously the pitchers. That would be at least 4 heroes for LA, I'll highlight the two most important pitchers. Stephen Fife pitched 5.1 innings, scattering 7 hits and 2 walks in a game in which he didn't give up any runs. He earned the win, moving to 4-3 on the season, he has a very impressive 2.47 ERA. I read that Don Mattingly is going to send Ted Lilly to the bullpen, so who's going to be the Dodgers fifth starter? Will it be Chris Capuano or Fife or someone they may potentially trade for. Both gave decent outings in their most recent starts, but I'm concerned that they were only able to work a few innings.
The other Dodgers hero pitcher on Sunday was Kenley Jansen, he struck out all 3 Cubs he faced. He earned his 17th save and lowered his ERA to 2.04. I'm sure this is what Ned Colletti was expecting.... he just thought it would be coming from Brandon League.
As for the Dodgers offense, well at least they got enough runs to win :) On Monday night the Dodgers take on the St. Louis Cardinals. This series will be much tougher than LA's series with the Cubs. Let me set the stage a bit. If LA wants to get at least a split in this series, which I'd be very excited about, their offense needs to pick up. The Cardinals scored 31 runs in their last 3 games, strangely they only won 2 of those 3 games. Meanwhile in the Dodgers last 4 games, they only scored 16 runs.
The Cardinals may be the best team in MLB. Although they've only won 3 of their last 10 games, they are still 65-45. That shows how consistently good they've been all season. Despite their poor record of late they still have a 99.1% chance of reaching the playoffs. Also this 4 game series will be in St. Louis, can you see why I'd be ecstatic about a split?
ESPN is fairly sure this will be an exciting series as they'll be showing the Dodgers-Cards game on Monday and Wednesday. Also the Dodgers play on Sunday Night Baseball against the Rays this week.
I've been enjoying this crazy Dodgers run of late, but how solid of a foundation is it built on? Dodgers starting pitching is good through Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Hyun-Jin Ryu. Also the late innings guys are pretty solid, especially Jansen and Paco Rodriguez.
However I'm not overwhelmed by Ricky Nolasco, Fife or Capuano. What will they get out of Ted Lilly the rest of the season, anything? Will the starting pitching last until the 7th or 8th inning enough times to get to Rodriguez and Jansen? If Dodgers starting pitching falters will J.P. Howell, Chris Withrow et. al be solid enough to limit opponents to few runs? How much can the Dodgers rely on the blown save twosome, Carlos Marmol and Brandon League? For that last question I hope they don't have to rely on them at all.
Remember this team has Chad Billingsley and Josh Beckett out for the rest of the season. Billingsley barely played and Beckett was ineffective when he pitched. Also Lilly has basically been on season long DL. He's back now but how long is he going to last. Like Carl Crawford he seems he could go on season ending DL any day.
The offense continues to really struggle, currently the Dodgers are 21st in MLB in runs scored. Of all the teams that look like they have a legitimate shot of making the playoffs, LA has scored the fewest runs. (Sorry Yankees, you aren't going to the playoffs.) The Dodgers have scored 9 less runs than the Cubs, the team they swept over the weekend.
Will Matt Kemp really come back this season? If he does at what level will he come back? How serious are Yasiel Puig's and Hanley Ramirez's injuries? What will LA get out of Carl Crawford the rest of the season? Mr. Consistent, Adrian Gonzalez, should continue to hit about .300 the rest of the season. But will he be able to elevate his game in those upcoming clutch moments? What will LA get out of Mark Ellis, A.J. Ellis, Juan Uribe and Andre Ethier? The Dodgers certainly seem to sign some fragile players.
Don Mattingly has been criticized for some of his pitching moves, will he make the right call when the Dodgers need his managerial insight?
Looking at this Dodgers roster, I'm not fully convinced they can have a lot of success in the playoffs. It just doesn't seem they are built on a very solid foundation? Will the Dodgers make one more trade to help them with some of their issues?
Thank goodness MLB has finally suspended Alex Rodriguez, Alex will you please shut up now and take your suspension like a man. Even the most hard core and blind Yankees fan recognizes that you have used steroids to help your career. The Yankees are out of the playoff chase, they have a 5.6% chance of making the playoffs, so even if you go back there's really nothing you can do to help them. Honestly the Yankees don't want you to come back, they'd rather save the money than run your broke down body on the field.
Everyone knows you are just playing to "earn" that ridiculous amount of money that the Yankees foolishly agreed to pay you. Please go away and work on becoming a much better person. Even without the suspension your career is basically over anyway.
themusicaddict
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