Shake It Up Already

While they began the season with a promising 3-game series victory over their hated rival, the world champion San Francisco Giants, the Dodgers have gone 17-22 since. The last time the Dodgers were over .500 was on April 11th, when they stood at 5-4 after a Monday night win over the Giants in San Francisco. The last time the Dodgers were even at .500 was after a Friday, April 29th victory over the San Diego Padres, in which they stood at 13-13. Since that Friday night fireworks display at Chavez Ravine, they have gone 6-10 to drop their record to 19-23.

While it is obviously not time to panic by any stretch of the imagination, the Dodgers’ offense is absolutely anemic. They have scored a horrendous 2 runs their last 28 innings. Last weekend’s home series versus the Arizona Diamondbacks, one that saw the Dodgers drop 2 of 3 games, was a testament to their struggles at the plate.

I was either fortunate enough, or unfortunate enough, to attend the Saturday afternoon game that was nationally televised on Fox Saturday Baseball. The Dodgers allowed rookie pitcher Josh Collmenter to beat them 1-0, while Chad Billingsley and company only allowed one hit the entire game to the opposition. The Dodger offense couldn’t plate even one run. This lack of offensive generation that was on display during this tight and urgent margin was a microcosm of what the Dodgers have been suffering from during the past two weeks.

Manager Don Mattingly, along with obvious consent from General Manager Ned Colletti, brought up AAA star Jerry Sands to the big club approximately three weeks ago. Since then Sands has started 5 out of 6 games a week in left field, as the coaches and management are certainly testing what this young right-handed, opposite-field minded batter has to offer.

The fact that Mattingly pinch-hit for Sands late in the Saturday loss, with a runner on 3rd and one out, down one run, only speaks to the transparent inexperience and distrust of Mattingly in his rookie campaign as the Dodger skipper.

To substitute the mentally-growing Sands in favor of a back-up catcher, Dioner Navarro (who ended up striking out on four pitches), simply because he was a left-handed bat against a right-handed pitcher, is absolutely ridiculous and is the polar opposite of what you are trying to accomplish within your progression of Sands.

Why pinch-hit for Sands in that situation, a scene that is his optimum learning and improving situation, when it is clear you brought him up to put him through these rigorous types of tests to really see what the kid can do? You just defeated your whole purpose with the kid in one substitution, “Donnie Baseball.”

Your place as manager goes beyond statistical probability, and has everything to do with what you are trying to gain as a young captain in a year that demands gain in positivity outside of the box score.  Your only gain has everything to do with an acquisition of quintessential trust within your players.  The move displayed was a defiant step in the wrong direction.

The lack of intelligent organizational protocol such as is what scares me about Mattingly as the Dodger manager, and is why I had my doubts when the Dodgers hired him with absolutely no top-level managerial experience.  Yes, he was a great ball-player, but so were countless others.  Being able to hit a baseball doesn’t mean you know how to manage men.  So far in this at-bat, Mattingly, you are behind in the count.

Instead of letting your young, up-and-coming outfielder, that you invested over 50 at-bats in during the past three weeks, bat in that situation, you grasped and flailed with the snap-trigger desperation that is the very antithesis of successful baseball managing.

If you bring a kid up like this and are testing him for future benefits, you let him hit in this clutch, run-scoring situation. What do you have to lose?  You only have something to gain.  That’s what you brought the kid up for, situations like this? How else is he going to learn how to thrive as a big-league pro?  By being substituted for, confidence ruined?  This was without a doubt a rookie manager move.  Its May, not September, Donnie winter-ball manager.

Aside from Mattingly’s Saturday evening blatant blunder, the overall tragedy that has lead to more losses than wins thus far, has to be the fact that the Dodgers have been losing 2-1 and 1-0 games since May began. Its not like they are getting blown out 7-0 and 10-1 in their losses over and over. All it takes to turn it around is one key move or one clutch hit, and its just not happening. The chemistry is not allowing it to.  This speaks to the lack of savvy and experienced managing that is ahead of the curve, the lack of knowing what your team needs.

The starting pitchers are pitching more than well enough to win, and they have been pitching this way not just since May began, but since opening day. Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp hit a hot streak to end April, but since then they have had average performances at best. And when the one-two punch of Ethier and Kemp cool down, and the rest of the supporting cast features only perpetual 19/80, .238-hitting baseball vagabonds, you are going to struggle to score runs, and struggle mightily.

The return of Rafael Furcal and Casey Blake will definitely boost the offense if even in the slightest bit, as Aaron Miles will finally ride some pine and Jaime Carroll can bob between second base and left field.  This will allow the revolving pop-up that is Juan Uribe and rookie Jerry Sands to platoon at a two-thirds level, 3 players at 2 positions, which will keep them fresh and tip-top for the sake of an aging veteran and a rookie.  Let’s hope Mattingly realizes this and substitutes as much.

A lineup of: Furcal, Carroll, Ethier, Kemp, Loney, Uribe, Barajas and Blake; will definitely will pump out more that what is currently being seen from the Dodger offensive attack.

All distant-future events considered, hopefully the bats wake up tonight in game 2 of the current home series versus the Brewers, because you know a consistently accurate arm like Hiroki Kuroda will keep the defense behind him on their collective toes.

If the Blue doesn’t get a “W,” it should snap a thread and reek as a completely unacceptable 5-games below .500 display at this quarter-season juncture. If this happens, something then needs to be tossed. Chemistry needs to be shaken up. A leader needs to break a few things in the clubhouse, or a coach needs to throw over the post-game table-spread in contention that the offense doesn’t deserve to eat.

Just average is not acceptable. Don’t fall into the lull of the mundane and the tolerant in May. If you do, June will look like 30-40 and July will end you up looking at a record of 40-55.

Even with the McCourt circus, this direction that is beginning to transpire shouldn’t be tolerated by any of the Dodger faithful.  Stay true and expect greatness everyday, even if your expectations are in the realm overachieving.  Any attitude less will only lead to underachievement.

Stay steadfast in wanting to consistently bounce the below-average norm that we are currently seeing. Clayton Kershaw’s bobble-head that is being given out tonight whole-heartedly agrees.