SoCal Sports Hub: Hardball Weekly (6/15/09)

With Titles being handed out in the NBA (yawn) and the NHL (in spectacular fashion) last week, it seems appropriate to discuss SoCal baseball with the World Series in mind.

Let's Get This One Out Of The Way

The Padres are not going to win the World Series. For a long time. They are now being outscored by more than 1-run per game (second worst in baseball, and whenever that's the case, you know the only one they're ahead of is Washington). Their ace will be traded any day now, and even if he isn't, he's not really very good anymore (6-6 and on the DL). After a nice hot stretch to get back into 2nd in the division, they have gone 5-12 since and are now barely hanging onto 2nd to last and Adrian Gonzalez hasn't homered in 10 games.

But San Diego is a really nice place to live and EZ J's in Pacific Beach makes a hell of a sandwich.

Ladies And Gentlemen, Your 2009 National League Champions...

It seems like the Dodgers are coming back to earth, but they're still 7-5 in June, the West is still basically clinched, and they still have the best record in the National League by 7-games. Colorado has won 11-straight and the Dodgers are still beating them by 10.5 games. They have survived the Manny Ramirez suspension and the injury to opening day starter Hiroki Kuroda. They are clearly the team to beat in the National League.

So pencilling the Dodgers in to the World Series, how will they fare? Joe Torre will have the players prepared and while they are young in age, they have playoff experience, they have solid veteran presence, and their young guys have been in the league for a long time. They're not relying on rookies. The Dodgers hit the ball like crazy and have pitched well, but the pitching will likely be their biggest question mark. Chad Billingsley and Kuroda will be starters. But then the next options are Clayton Kershaw, Randy Wolf, and Jeff Weaver. None of these five are what you'd call playoff-tested reliable starters.

Can The Monkey Pitch?

After a rough start, Chone Figgins has taken the Angels on his back of late, hitting in 28 of 30 games (2+ hits in 16 of them!). And with the Texans slowing down a bit, the Angels have crept to within 2.5 games of the West leaders (and just 3 of the Wild Card leading Yankees). Vlad Guerrero is hitting .288 in June after taking over a month of due to injury, but his production is still abysmal (1 homer, 9 RBI in 52 games). John Lackey and Ervin Santana have both been inconsistent since returning from injury and Kelvim Escobar is having shoulder problems again.

So with that many mixed signals, it is impossible to predict much about the Angels' hopes in October. They have so much going wrong but are still in the race with the Rangers (who have so much going right). So by the law of averages, you'd think the Angels will pull it out and win the West but with their pitching as bad as it has been (5th highest ERA, 3rd highest batting average-against in baseball), an early exit may be a sure thing.

The Lineup (9 Things To Watch This Week)

Dodgers at Angels (Friday-Sunday)
Angels vs. Tim Lincecum (Wednesday, at San Francisco)
White Sox at Cubs (Tuesday-Thursday)
Nationals (most runs allowed in baseball) at Yankees (5th most) (Tuesday-Thursday)
Troy Tulowitski (Rockies) had 8 runs, 3 homers, 5 RBI, 3 stolen bases, and batted .421 last week
Jose Contreras (White Sox) returned from a stint in the minors with 2 wins in 16 shutout innings, with 11 K's last week
Colorado has won 11 straight (host Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh)
Trade Watch: Mark DeRosa, Matt Holliday, Jake Peavy, Jack Wilson, Nick Johnson, Miguel Tejada, Ryan Spilborghs
Manny Ramirez drops to 6th in All-Star voting

This post is a copy of a weekly feature I write for SoCal Sports Hub. Check out their site for great info., articles, interviews and comments on all Southern California pro and college sports.

SoCal Sports Hub: Hardball Weakly (6/8/09)

Dodgers Help Lower Phillies' Team ERA

The Dodgers offense has finally slowed down a bit from its torrid pace. Whether it was with Manny Ramirez or without, they seemed to be able to string hits together at will and score runs in bunches. Facing a Phillies' pitching staff that boasts the second worst ERA in the National League, they probably expected to have four huge offensive games last week at home.

But the Phils put up a fight and held the Dodgers to just nine runs over the course of the four-game series. While Andre Ethier seems to have finally awoken from the slump he fell into when Manny went out, Orlando Hudson, Casey Blake, Rafael Furcal, and Russell Martin are all now slumping.

As for Juan Pierre, who is hitting .362 in Manny's stead, the Dodgers will likely try and trade him for pitching help while his value is still sky-high. Pierre is in the final year of one of many terrible contracts the Dodgers have signed over the past few years and is making $10,000,000 this year. Clearly Manny Ramirez' job is waiting for him when he comes back, and Matt Kemp and Ethier are part of the "untouchable" group that the Dodgers have repeatedly said they won't move. Plus Ethier makes just $3.1 M this year and Kemp $467,000 (yes, you read that right).

The Gang's All Here

Although the Halos were just 3-3 on last week's road trip in Toronto and Detroit, they have to be thrilled with the pitching they got from Ervin Santana and Kelvim Escobar.

Santana had missed the first six weeks of the season with an elbow injury and allowed 15 runs in his last two starts over just 6-1/3 innings. He was back to his All-Star form against Detroit, scattering six hits and seven K's over 8-2/3 innings, and allowing only 1 run to score for his first win of 2009.

Escobar took the mound for the first time since 2007 and allowed just four hits through five innings, taking the loss as the Angels fell 2-1 a day after they'd beaten Detroit by the same score on Friday. With their stellar rotation of Jered Weaver, John Lackey, Santana, Escobar, and Joe Saunders back together, and the offense continues to improve, the Angels have only given Texas a 4.5-game lead and will look to make that up by the All-Star break.

I Wouldn't Want To Pitch To The Phillies Either

Since winning a Major League Baseball season-high 10-straight last month, the Padres are just 3-8 in their last 11, and have slipped back to a double-digit deficit behind the Dodgers. They play five games in Los Angeles this week, facing the Dodgers twice and Angels thrice.

Jake Peavy left after just one inning against the Phillies last week (upper respiratory infection), but will be back on the hill twice this week. Peavy is just 5-6 with an ERA over 4.00 this season, though his 84 strikeouts put him fifth in the National League. The lone bright spot for the Padres continues to be Adrian Gonzalez whose 22 homers lead all of baseball.

The Lineup (9 Things To Watch This Week)
Major League Baseball's Draft (Tuesday-Thursday)
Padres at Dodgers (Tuesday-Wednesday)
Angels at Rays (Tuesday-Thursday)
Dodgers at Rangers (Friday-Sunday)
Mets host Phillies (Tuesday-Thursday) and visit the new Yankee Stadium (Friday-Sunday)
Red Sox at Phillies (Friday-Sunday)
Oakland (6 straight wins) vs. Minnesota (Monday-Thursday) and at San Francisco (Friday-Sunday)
Ian Stewart (Colorado) has 4 homers and 12 RBI in his last 5 games
Edwin Jackson (Detroit) is 5-1 with 7 earned runs in his last six starts (at White Sox Thursday)
Seattle takes the AL's best ERA to Colorado (Friday-Sunday)

This post is a copy of a weekly feature I write for SoCal Sports Hub. Check out their site for great info., articles, interviews and comments on all Southern California pro and college sports.

SoCal Sports Hub: Hardball Weekly (6/1/09)

Wanted: Season-Saving Rally Monkey

Ervin Santana’s much anticipated return to the Angels has not gone as the team hoped. He is 0-2 with a 9.50 ERA (31 runs allowed in four games), but he isn’t much worse than the rest of the Angels right now. Hovering just one game over .500, the injury-riddled Angels just stumbled through a 2-4 home stand that left them 4.5 games behind the red-hot Rangers, and staring a 9-game road trip in the face.

But if there is such a thing as a turning point, the Angels may have had one Sunday when they overcame a seven-run deficit in the 6th inning, capped off with a 3-run ninth for the walk-off. Torii Hunter continues to lead the Halos in nearly every offensive category, hitting .313 with 12 homers and nearly an RBI per game. If the Angels can keep riding Hunter until Vlad Guerrero, John Lackey, and Santana get back to form, they are still the favorites in the AL West despite the Rangers’ start.

Odd Man Out

With just 32 calendar days left, the Dodgers are nearly halfway through Manny Ramirez’ steroid-suspension. A few weeks ago, it seemed that the Dodgers might be in deep trouble when their saw they Division lead dwindle and their hitting stop. Now it seems the biggest problem they will deal with in the West is where to put Manny when he is eligible.

Andre Ethier’s batting average has fallen 60-points in Manny’s absence, and Juan Pierre has hit over .400 for most of that span (.374 on the season), but Pierre cannot be played in right field because of his weak throwing arm. Matt Kemp would be tough to move from center field with his solid defense and impressive hitting. But you can’t take Manny’s bat out of the lineup either. So Pierre will likely be relegated to the bench again despite his torrid hitting.

Maybe They Should Threaten To Trade Other Guys Too

The Padres completed a trade with the White Sox to send ace Jake Peavy to Chicago, but Peavy vetoed the deal. Since then, Peavy is 3-0 and the Padres have done what they needed to do to get back into the race in the NL West, going 12-3 (including a 10-game win streak). Unfortunately, the Dodgers regained their form just before that stretch and have surrendered only 1.5 games during that span, and the Padres still sit in third place, 9-games back.

Adrian Gonzalez continues to put up MVP numbers, even though he is a long shot for the All-Star game. Gonzalez leads baseball with 20 homers, and has 40 RBI through 50 games. But Scott Hairston and Gonzalez are the only two Padre regulars hitting over .250, and despite Peavy’s renewed success, they simply cannot compete with the Dodgers over the long haul. The clock is ticking louder and louder on the Padres’ stars careers at Petco.

The Lineup (9 Things To Watch This Week)

Dodgers vs. Phillies in battle of Division Leaders (Thursday-Sunday at Dodger Stadium)
Angels start 9-game road trip (Toronto, Detroit, Tampa Bay)
Jake Peavy vs. Phillies Offense (2nd in NL in runs scored) (Wednesday at Petco Park)
Juan Pierre: 1-13 in last three games (Dodgers went 1-2), 12-24 in previous five (Dodgers were 4-1)
Rangers take West division lead to New York and Boston
Baltimore’s Luke Scott hit .533 with six homers and 14 RBI over a four-game stretch last week
Carlos Zambrano returns to the mound after suspension (Thursday at Atlanta)
Washington (on pace for 43 wins) has lost 6 straight (host San Francisco and New York Mets)
Mets (7-2) and Phillies (12-4) red hot and separated by .5
Phillies (5.02) and Yankees (4.94) have the 4th and 5th worst ERAs in baseball despite leading their divisions

This post is a copy of a weekly feature I write for SoCal Sports Hub. Check out their site for great info., articles, interviews and comments on all Southern California pro and college sports.