It's hard to fathom the Dodgers going into 'Frisco, flat-out dominate only to come home and get equally dominated by the Diamondbacks.
Now, Arizona has played well of late, but the Dodgers failing to use the momentum from the Giants' series is somewhat disappointing.
The biggest problem was the home runs allowed by Dodger pitching. Aaron Harang, Chris Capuano and Stephen Fife combined to allow six home runs in the three-game series. That is not a formula for winning. Hopefully it was just an aberration, but Harang and Capuano are regressing to the mean as we speak.
But all isn't lost. There are still two months to go and the Dodgers are in a good position to win the division. But like the past when the Dodgers and Giants are battling for the division, it will likely come down to the final week of the season. Until then, the Dodgers need to take care of business ... and hope the hitters remember how to hit.
Well, they picked up a .240 hitter, a .260 hitter and a reliever who is 0-5. Everyone seems so excited about these moves, and they could turn out great because the recent poor performance of these players is probably anomalous, but those numbers above are the reality right now.
ReplyDeleteYour confused if you think the Dodgers aren't dramatically better. Baseball goes beyond the numbers. Hanley is a spoiled Dominican that got tired of losing in Miama. Hence Manny. He's a huge upgrade over Juan Uribe whos hitting 195 with 2 homers. Shane Victorino is hitting 40 points higher with a much higher OBP then the Dodgers had in the leadoff role. He's averaged almost 100 runs scored the past few years. Theres a reason why the analysts believe the Dodgers are most improved. As for your 0-5 comment..a relievers record is nearly irrelevant. Check out Kenley Jansens ERA next to his record..it doesn't add up. If you knew baseball you would've posted something that makes sense. Baseball is a chemistry game. If they just play well individually and start to mesh they will score enough runs to win. It doesn't change the fact our rotation won't hang in a playoff series though.
ReplyDeleteThe trades are an improvement for sure just based on the stats. lets not forget we got some relief arms to go with with the bats and improved defense. I see the Dodgers trying to shorten games to keep the staff from blowing games after the 5th inning.
ReplyDeleteWe do need a stud number 1 starting pitcher to have any shot in the post season and I hope its Cliff Lee. We should see if this happens real soon.
why do we need Uribe? Abreu could at least hit. Cruz has potential and Gordon will be back---plus we have Ramirez-----Bobby got the shaft!!!!!!
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