As I write this post, the Dodgers are well on their way to losing another game to another mediocre team (Arizona Diamondbacks) and it becomes increasingly apparent that the lack of a legitimate fifth starter is going to doom this club for the season. Hasn't it always been the case, however, that the "on the cheap" pitching solution that the post O'Malley Dodgers have employed always end up ruining what will otherwise be a great team. Last season, Dodger fans had to endure the pains of watching a broken down Scott Erickson, a flailing D.J Houlton, an unimpressive Elmer Dessens, and a really old Wilson Alvarez. Combined, these pitching juggernauts were a combined 9 and 19 and I'm not even mentioning the contributions of Edwin Jackson.
This year, the Dodgers gave up (Nomar just scored by the way) Duaner Sanchez and Steve Shmoll for Jae F'n Seo. (Dioner Navarro just popped up again to KILL another rally) F'n Seo looked lights out in the World Baseball Classic, or so we thought. As many call a virtuoso pitching performance in the WBC, I call pitching to Japan league hitters and 7 RAZA plus Euribel Durazo and Jorge Cantu. Coming into tonight's game, Seo's ERA was hovering in the mid 6's, and tonight's performance does not do anything to help that number.
Now, many will say that he had a great performance against the Giants despite the loss. Many will not say that the very reason they did lose was because Seo's brain took a crap during the game and he balked in the go ahead run. How do you throw to first base without anyone covering? I ask this because as a passive observer of the game, I have never heard of anyone ever throwing to a base that a fielder was not covering. I am sure I have not seen a lot of baseball, and that if you have you could say you have seen those types of rarities. I did see the Dodgers win a game once on catcher's interference when Don Slaught, then with the Pirates, accidently picked up a ball in the dirt with his catcher's mask allowing Tim Wallach score the winning run. I guess nobody is perfect. Jae Seo certainly is not, and his good pitching performance is outdone by the one moment of complete idiocy.
The moral of this post, I guess it is just a rant on the sheer ineptitude of the squad and misplaced anger towards a poor guy, Seo, that probably is in over his head. It's not his fault, I know, it's Grady's and Dioner's because they fail to do the basic thing that makes their respective positions with the ball club so different from the other guys in the organization. They don't manage, they don't console, and they certainly don't strategize, they just let the pitcher go out and make a series of bad pitches, to the tune of 5 earned in 4 innings. Another wasted opportunity to build on a solid game last night, and another opportunity to waste the talents of Jeff Kent, J.D. Drew, Nomar, and Bill Mueller.
SIDEBAR
Well, I didn't speak too soon. The Dodgers did manage to blow a game with bad pitching and really bad managing. So Nomar had 2 hits and scored a run, yeah yeah. Just when you think that they are going to get that clutch hit to tie the game, they blow another opportunity to waste runners in scoring position.
If something good did come out of this game, I guess it's that Shawn Green really sucks and it's a good thing that the Dodgers dumped him when they did.
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2 comments:
You are entirely wrong, my friend. Jae Soo has not given up a single hit for the Dodgers.
Jae Seo has.
And Seo, when he's good, is really good. The guy was 2-1 with a 2.00 ERA before he was sent down last year, and that was because Kris Benson was off the DL. Seo came in to replace Ishii for the Mets, and did very well for them.
From what I've seen of Seo, the Dodgers need to get Seo's confidence up. Even with the balk, if you only allow 2 runs in 6 innings, you shouldn't lose the ballgame. This isn't the '67 Dodgers, that only managed 519 runs the whole season, and went 73-89 with a team ERA of 3.21. Give Seo a couple weeks in the bullpen, and once he grounds his ERA, he'll be much better off.
As for cheap spare starters, Jose Lima made it to the Dodgers as a non-roster invite, and did a decent job as a starter. He shut out the Cardinals, remember?
You are right about Lima time, he did put together a decent run and get the squad their first postseason win in 16 years. Lima time also flamed out after one season in Houston, put together a decent run with the Dodgers, then flamed out again. I believe he is currently out of the league.
Jae Seo reminds me of Chan Ho, especially on those occasions when Chan Ho used to give up grand slams in the same inning to greatest of hitters, Fernando Tatis. And, let's not forget all the great memories Barry Bonds fans have off of Chan Ho's pitching. Seo needs confidence? That's not something that you just pick up, that's something that you need to have since the days of short pants. In any case, if you are suggesting Seo needs to grow some sack and man up, then yes I agree.
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