Dodgers Place Manny/Weaver on DL
After Manny left last night’s game @ Cincinnati with a calf injury, the Dodgers decided to place him on the 15-day DL effective today. The news couldn’t come at a worse time. Manny has been swinging a hot bat as of late batting .415 with 12 RBI and two home-run (including a two-run go-ahead shot in last week’s series finale over the Giants).
The move means Los Angeles will bring up outfielder Xaxier Paul from Triple-A Albuquerque for tonight’s game against the Washington Nationals. Paul has also been putting up McDonald’s numbers in the Pacific Coast League this season, hitting .361/.409/.574 with 18 runs scored in 15 games.
The Dodgers will also activate left-hander Hong-Chih Kuo after placing reliever Jeff Weaver on the 15-day DL. Weaver left the Dodgers’ 14-6 victory over the Reds on Wednesday night because of back spasms; the 33-year-old has received the brunt of the action in the Dodger bullpen this year going 0-1 with a 5.06 ERA in nine appearances. There was a stretch of games where he pitched in six out of seven straight contests.
The 27-year-old Kuo has been on the disabled list since the start of the season because of soreness in his left elbow. Kuo can be pretty nasty when he’s healthy, but his appearances are rather infrequent. He was 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA in 35 games for the Dodgers in ’09.
An All-Star Trio: Vote Blue Here!
Although we’re celebrating Earth week, All-Star balloting is about to get underway, and I’m urging you all to think Blue, especially when you’re filling out your ballots for the National League outfield (all ballots are good through July 1 at 11:59 p.m. ET). You can cast your ballots up to 25 times here.
Let me explain…
Going into the third week of the season, no outfield in the league is hitting the ball better and certainly none of them are make more plays than the Blue Crew’s trio. Matt Kemp dazzles in center field, Andre Ethier thrills with extra-inning walk-offs, and Manny just entertains us by being Manny.
It is for that reason that this week’s edition of Matt Gullette’s Semi-Weekly Nut-Up Award goes to not one, not two, but three players who stepped it up last week to win back-to-back series against the top of the NL West. They are the Dodger outfield, but I call them the Terrific Trifecta.
The outfield not only makes one fantastic play after another (well, maybe excluding Manny), but they’ve also carried the Dodgers’ offensive production, part of the reason why Los Angeles leads the majors in batting average (.321) and runs per game (6.6!). In the last 10 games, the Trifecta have combined for 13 home-runs, 37 RBI, 33 runs and a blistering .412 batting average! They are hitting at home, on the road, and everywhere in between. I’ll break it down for you:
Manny Ramirez. Despite battling a sore calf that took him out of the game tonight, Manny has been on fire the last 10 games leading the Dodgers with a .415 batting average. During that span Manny’s ManRam also came through in the clutch with a huge pinch-hit home-run in the 8th inning against division rival Giants over the weekend, which not only helped the Dodgers avoid back-to-back shutouts, it won them a much-needed series. That’s just Manny being Manny.
Matt Kemp. He’s one of the hottest hitters in baseball right now, and the center-fielder got yet another hit tonight extending his 11-game hit streak, five of which were multi-hit games. During that span Kemp has led the Dodgers’ high-powered offense batting 16-for-45 (.356, ) with seven home-runs , 15 RBI and 15 runs scored, including a stretch where he hit a home-run in four-consecutive games. Kemp’s versatility goes far beyond what he does at the plate, though. The center-fielder uses his lengthy range to make some of the most incredible catches I have ever seen—part of what earned him a Golden Glove Award last season to go along with that Silver Slugger. Rhianna isn’t the only one in love with those hands.
Andre Ethier. When the Dodgers are in a tight, late-inning affair, who’re you gonna call? That’s right, Andre Ethier. Aside from his weekly blog “Dining With ‘Dre,” Ethier also eats ninth-inning, lower-inside-half fastballs for breakfast. ‘Dre led the league with seven walk-off hits last year–setting a major league record with four walk-off home-runs. We all got our first taste of Ethier’s magic last Thursday in a grueling 6-5 win over the Diamondbacks at Chavez Ravine as the Chef singled in the game-winning run. In the last 10 games Ethier has hit remarkably well: 17-for-41 (.416!) with 15 RBI and five home-runs, including two in the series opener against the Giants. Oh, and the Jonas Brothers’ favorite Dodger homered again tonight, albeit in a losing effort to the Reds. Going into a weekend series against the lowly Nationals, Ethier’s hitting right about the .400 mark.
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Manny Leaves Game with Strained Calf
Manny came out of tonight’s game in the sixth inning against the Cincinnati Reds after straining his calf running out a single.
On a positive note, it is good to see Manny Ramirez hustling.
But seriously, I hope it’s nothing that will keep him out for long. Manny’s been having problems with the same calf since sometime last week, so obviously it was something that flared up again. The Dodgers were leading 3-2 in the sixth when Manny hit a one-out single up the middle, but you could tell he slowed down as he got to to first base, and Joe Torre immediately took him out of the game.
The 12-time All-Star came into tonight leading the Dodgers with a red-hot .421 batting average. It’s been a landmark sort of year for the outfielder; he reached 1,800 RBIs Wednesday night, recorded his 2,500th career hit a week ago, and tied Hall-of-Famer Mike Schmidt for 14th on the all-time home-run list with 548 a few days ago.
The Manny-less Dodgers team lost another game on the road tonight to the reeling Cincinnati Reds, 5-9, who have won just two out of the last nine contests. The Dodgers failed to get above .500 again as the bullpen woes continue. The pen decided to serve up four more runs in the seventh inning, two of them coming from the recently-activated Ronalid Belisario.
Dodger Dynamic Hitting Posts 14 over Reds
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The Blue Crew can hit, there’s no doubt about that, and the best statistical offense in major league baseball earned their money last night with 18 hits en route to beating the pants off the Cincinnati Reds, 14-6.
Yes, it was old school Dodger baseball last night as they strung together several rallies throughout the game to give the Reds their seventh loss in the last eight games. Rafael Furcal led the way with four RBI finishing just a home-run shy of the cycle, and Matt Kemp homered in his second-consecutive game (his seventh of the season, all of which have come in the last 10 games) as the Dodgers won again despite giving up six runs. (more…)
Dodger Bullpen ‘Seeing Red Again’
Chad Billingsley struggled in his third outing of the season giving up seven runs in just three innings, and the Dodgers (6-7) failed to capitalize on a late rally dropping the first of the series to the Cincinnati Reds (6-8), 9-11.
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How does a baseball team still manage to stay below .500 despite having one of the most explosive offenses in the league? Pitching, or a lack thereof.
This time the Dodgers tried but couldn’t quite rebound from Billingsley’s latest meltdown. After giving up seven hits and four earned, most of which came in a six-run second inning, Los Angeles erased a six-run Reds’ lead late in the ballgame, but the struggling Dodger bullpen couldn’t come through in the clutch…again. (more…)
