Dodgers-Mariners Photos

Game Notes: Dodgers-Mariners

Hey everyone – As Alex noted, I’m in the press box tonight, so ask any questions, and I’ll do my best to get ‘em answered for you!

A few observations so far:

The San Marino Little League was out tonight!  As a former San Marino Little Leaguer, I was psyched to see the kids out for the game and catching a little BP (pictures coming later).

Ken Griffey Jr. isn’t playing tonight, but is expected to start in the outfield for the next two games.  Hopefully he’ll come in as a pinch hitter later in the game as I’ve really been looking forward to seeing that swing again.

Beltre’s shoulder seems to be an ongoing problem, acknowledging before the game that it’s pretty much bothering him all the time.

Pau Gasol looked sharp throwing out the first pitch from the rubber in what turns out to be his first professional baseball game!

Speaking of looking sharp…Kershaw is looking really good…five strikeouts over the first three innings.

Ethier goes deep to left-center field with a three-run bomb…gotta love it.

8:03: the crowd behind home plate begins chanting “Let’s Go Lakers!” Pau gives the fans a wave and a smile to say thanks.

8:08: Nice pitching by Kershaw to get Jojima to ground into that double-play!

Ok, all updates will now be in the comments section so this page isn’t being constantly updated…

Dodgers-Mariners Pre-Game Notes

Following are a few pre-game quotes from Joe Torre:

On Manny Ramirez in Albuquerque: “He got through it and he didn’t get hurt…he’ll play the next five days, four days and be ready for us next week.  I’m not concerned about statistics.  I’m more interested in having him compete in some games.”

On Juan Pierre’s Upcoming Return to the Bench: “Juan certainly seized the opportunity and made the most out of it.  We’ll just go back and, our original plan coming out of Spring Training was to give Juan a day or two a week in center field and rest Ethier or rest Kemp.  We did it, I think three times, before Manny was suspended, so we’ll continue to do that.  It’s just one of those things.  When you have Kemp in center field, obviously getting better.  Ethier’s been such a big part of our offense. with this National league baseball, there’s not much we can do about it.

On the Dodgers Not Losing Three Games in a Row All Season: “We’ve been lucky a lot.  Our record in close games has been very good.  It just so happens, a lot of those close games were played at home…our bullpen has been doing an amazing job.  And that’s something that when we left Spring Training, we weren’t sure what it was all about.  So I’ve got to credit the bullpen and just the resiliency of this team.  They’ve been fighting and biting and going after things on an everyday basis and we’ve got to keep doing it.”

On Jason Schmidt: “Schmidt’s pitching tonight with no pitch count so we’ll see what that’s like.”

On Jeff Weaver: “Weaver gave us a courageous outing yesterday.  He pitched his tail off, especially that last inning.”

On His First Impressions of Ichiro Suzuki: “Usually people don’t live up to the expectations but he certainly, when we saw him after what we were told about him, he was scary (for the opposition).  He looked like he had a great deal of control over what he was doing.  Defensively, it looked so easy for him.  He’d be under every ball and make a throw right on the money, running fast after two steps, steal a base when he wanted to, and then when you watched him in batting practice you knew he could hit home runs when he wanted to…he’s about as complete a player as you want to find.”

dodgerfan Live From The Pressbox Tonight!

Keep an eye out for Chris’s upcoming pre-game notes from Joe Torre and live blogging from the pressbox tonight!

When Manny Returns…

With Manny Ramirez taking his swings in Albuquerque and getting back into shape for his July 3^rd return, the big question revolves around Juan Pierre and his role with the Dodgers…

In Manny’s absence, Juan has been a blessing for the team…his 71 hits (4^th on the team), .327 average (tops on the team amongst the regulars) and 17 stolen bases (2^nd on the team) are great numbers for a leadoff man…

From what I’ve read and heard on the radio, there are some things the Dodgers may consider in the coming weeks…

• Trade him while is stock is high and reduce our payroll…that seems to be a very logical move and I’m sure some teams would be interested in a quality leadoff guy in their lineup…the positives for the Dodgers would be the reduction in payroll and maybe getting something good in return…
• Keep him on the roster and relegate him to the bench…the positive for the Dodgers is Manny Ramirez, Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier are the top-3 outfielders and deserve their starting roles…my fear is this would take away Juan’s momentum that he has built during Manny’s absence and we may see a drop in his productivity if he’s not in the lineup everyday…
• Keep him on the roster, but give him a few starts here and there to give Ramirez, Kemp and Ethier a break…this works for me because you want to give guys a day off every once in a while to keep them fresh and allow them to be at full strength for what we all hope will be a long playoff run…PLUS, what if Ethier gets hurt?…what if Kemp runs into the outfield wall and is out for a couple weeks?…having an experienced outfielder available will do nothing but help the team…giving him a few starts here and there will keep him in “game” mode when called upon…

One thing I have thought about is this…

Have Ramirez, Kemp and Ethier be the starting outfield trio with Pierre on the bench…in the 6^th or 7^th inning, when we often see pinch hitters batting for our pitcher, use that as a time to get Pierre his first at bat of the game…

When the team takes the field for the next half inning, put Pierre into the game in left or center and you can move around the outfielders as you see fit (ie – if he replaces Kemp, Juan can play center…if he replaced Ramirez, Juan can play left…if he replaces Either, Kemp can move to right and Juan plays center)…

This will serve a couple purposes:

• give one of the outfielders 2-3 innings “off” for that game…rather than having them rest for a whole game, give them their 9 innings of rest over 7-8 games…
• Pierre will probably get 2 plate appearances per game if he comes in during the 6^th or 7^th inning…if you figure he does this 5-6 times per week, that’s 10-15 plate appearances per week which is better than giving him 6-10 as a bench player who pinch hits or fills in on occasion as a starter for the starters…
• If Pierre comes in and pinch hits for the pitcher, most likely that means he’s batting 9^th in the order and will bat in front of the projected leadoff man, Rafael Furcal…doesn’t Pierre/Furcal batting back-to-back sound familiar???…that’s what they do now!

Anyway, all this is just talk, but it’s something to think about as we anticipate the return of Manny to the lineup…whatever Joe Torre decides, I’m all for it (so long as we keep winning!).

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