Dodgers hope to find consistency at home
Dodgers hope to find consistency at home
After a mediocre 3-4 trip through St. Louis and Atlanta, the Dodgers come home hoping to get out of their post All-Star break rut, and they might have the perfect opponent to do that against in the Brewers.
The dust has settled. Last Friday’s trade deadline has come and gone, and both the Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers find themselves relatively intact. That’s great news – if you’re the Los Angeles Dodgers.
L.A. has been running hot and cold since the All-Star break, but things are hot right now with three wins in four games, enough to push the Dodgers back to the top of the majors at 65-40 (+19.41 units). Milwaukee just dropped two of three to the lowly San Diego Padres to fall below .500 at 52-53 (–3.96 units), 4.5 games behind the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central race.
These two teams did make one small deal with each other: the Dodgers sent former Milwaukee starter Claudio Vargas back to the Brewers in exchange for minor league catcher Vinny Rottino. Vargas has a subpar career ERA+ of 92 and was released unceremoniously from the Brewers at the end of the 2007 season (5.09 ERA, 4.89 xFIP). He’ll patch a hole in Milwaukee’s bullpen, which needs some patching according to that 4.09 team ERA, ranked No. 19 in the majors.
The Dodgers were happy to part with Vargas, because arriving in their bullpen factory direct from the Baltimore Orioles is George Sherrill (2.40 ERA, 4.34 xFIP). He’ll be a southpaw set-up man for Jonathan Broxton (2.83 ERA, 2.08 xFIP) and take over as closer if and when Broxton and his suspect big toe are unavailable. Again, this deal didn’t require L.A. to shake up the roster – minor-league third baseman Josh Bell and pitcher Steve Johnson went in the other direction. The Dodgers are already the top team in the NL with a 3.31 bullpen ERA.
Although the trade deadline went past their doors fairly quietly, both rosters took some blows over the weekend. Dodgers 3B Casey Blake (.836 OPS) was unavailable for Sunday night’s 9-1 pasting of the Atlanta Braves (–128) while he reportedly had X-rays done on his left hand. His status was uncertain at press time. Mark Loretta (.593 OPS) filled in on Sunday, and although he was 2-for-5 against the Braves, the numbers for the season are what they are. As for the Brewers, OF Corey Hart (.768 OPS) needed to have his appendix removed Sunday. He’ll likely be replaced in right by Frank Catalanotto (.690 OPS) for the time being.
The good news for Milwaukee supporters is that the Brew Crew has been the better hitting team since the All-Star break, with a shiny .776 team OPS compared to .746 for Los Angeles. Manny Ramirez is in what qualifies as a slump for Manny with a .727 OPS and just two home runs in his last 15 games. However, the Dodgers pitching staff is far superior, and the under went 5-2 on their seven-game road trip.
L.A. comes home to Chavez Ravine and the following three pitching matchups.
Game 1: Manny Parra vs. Clayton Kershaw
Monday, Aug 3, 10:10 p.m. (ET)
The betting odds at press time had Los Angeles available anywhere between –195 and –215, with a total of 8.5 runs. Parra (6.50 ERA, 4.77 xFIP) has had some very bad luck with just 64.7 percent of runners stranded, leading to a 5-12 team record and 8.65 units of debt. Only three starters have done worse monetarily this year. Kershaw (2.76 ERA, 4.23 xFIP) has allowed just five earned runs in his last nine starts combined; he’s been hoarding all the good luck with 78.2 percent of his runners stranded.
Game 2: Yovani Gallardo vs. Hiroki Kuroda
Tuesday, Aug 4, 10:10 p.m. (ET)
Gallardo (3.13 ERA, 3.59 xFIP) is the only good pitcher on the Brewers staff right now. His walk rate (64 in 21 starts) is a bit problematic, though, leaving him 40 bucks in the red on a team record of 12-9. Kuroda (4.44 ERA, 3.74 xFIP) has three straight no-decisions, but the bullpen picked up the win all three times. The under got paid in every game to improve to 9-4 in his 13 starts.
Game 3: Braden Looper vs. Jason Schmidt
Wednesday, Aug 5, 10:10 p.m. (ET)
Looper (5.03 ERA, 4.80 xFIP) is having the kind of season that cost Vargas his job two years ago, and yet the Brewers are 13-9 in his starts for 5.57 units. Looper has been graced with 5.68 runs of support per game; the over is 13-8-1 when he pitches. Schmidt has allowed seven runs in 14 innings – none in the six he threw against Atlanta on Friday.
After a mediocre 3-4 trip through St. Louis and Atlanta, the Dodgers come home hoping to get out of their post All-Star break rut, and they might have the perfect opponent to do that against in the Brewers.
The dust has settled. Last Friday’s trade deadline has come and gone, and both the Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers find themselves relatively intact. That’s great news – if you’re the Los Angeles Dodgers.
L.A. has been running hot and cold since the All-Star break, but things are hot right now with three wins in four games, enough to push the Dodgers back to the top of the majors at 65-40 (+19.41 units). Milwaukee just dropped two of three to the lowly San Diego Padres to fall below .500 at 52-53 (–3.96 units), 4.5 games behind the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central race.
These two teams did make one small deal with each other: the Dodgers sent former Milwaukee starter Claudio Vargas back to the Brewers in exchange for minor league catcher Vinny Rottino. Vargas has a subpar career ERA+ of 92 and was released unceremoniously from the Brewers at the end of the 2007 season (5.09 ERA, 4.89 xFIP). He’ll patch a hole in Milwaukee’s bullpen, which needs some patching according to that 4.09 team ERA, ranked No. 19 in the majors.
The Dodgers were happy to part with Vargas, because arriving in their bullpen factory direct from the Baltimore Orioles is George Sherrill (2.40 ERA, 4.34 xFIP). He’ll be a southpaw set-up man for Jonathan Broxton (2.83 ERA, 2.08 xFIP) and take over as closer if and when Broxton and his suspect big toe are unavailable. Again, this deal didn’t require L.A. to shake up the roster – minor-league third baseman Josh Bell and pitcher Steve Johnson went in the other direction. The Dodgers are already the top team in the NL with a 3.31 bullpen ERA.
Although the trade deadline went past their doors fairly quietly, both rosters took some blows over the weekend. Dodgers 3B Casey Blake (.836 OPS) was unavailable for Sunday night’s 9-1 pasting of the Atlanta Braves (–128) while he reportedly had X-rays done on his left hand. His status was uncertain at press time. Mark Loretta (.593 OPS) filled in on Sunday, and although he was 2-for-5 against the Braves, the numbers for the season are what they are. As for the Brewers, OF Corey Hart (.768 OPS) needed to have his appendix removed Sunday. He’ll likely be replaced in right by Frank Catalanotto (.690 OPS) for the time being.
The good news for Milwaukee supporters is that the Brew Crew has been the better hitting team since the All-Star break, with a shiny .776 team OPS compared to .746 for Los Angeles. Manny Ramirez is in what qualifies as a slump for Manny with a .727 OPS and just two home runs in his last 15 games. However, the Dodgers pitching staff is far superior, and the under went 5-2 on their seven-game road trip.
L.A. comes home to Chavez Ravine and the following three pitching matchups.
Game 1: Manny Parra vs. Clayton Kershaw
Monday, Aug 3, 10:10 p.m. (ET)
The betting odds at press time had Los Angeles available anywhere between –195 and –215, with a total of 8.5 runs. Parra (6.50 ERA, 4.77 xFIP) has had some very bad luck with just 64.7 percent of runners stranded, leading to a 5-12 team record and 8.65 units of debt. Only three starters have done worse monetarily this year. Kershaw (2.76 ERA, 4.23 xFIP) has allowed just five earned runs in his last nine starts combined; he’s been hoarding all the good luck with 78.2 percent of his runners stranded.
Game 2: Yovani Gallardo vs. Hiroki Kuroda
Tuesday, Aug 4, 10:10 p.m. (ET)
Gallardo (3.13 ERA, 3.59 xFIP) is the only good pitcher on the Brewers staff right now. His walk rate (64 in 21 starts) is a bit problematic, though, leaving him 40 bucks in the red on a team record of 12-9. Kuroda (4.44 ERA, 3.74 xFIP) has three straight no-decisions, but the bullpen picked up the win all three times. The under got paid in every game to improve to 9-4 in his 13 starts.
Game 3: Braden Looper vs. Jason Schmidt
Wednesday, Aug 5, 10:10 p.m. (ET)
Looper (5.03 ERA, 4.80 xFIP) is having the kind of season that cost Vargas his job two years ago, and yet the Brewers are 13-9 in his starts for 5.57 units. Looper has been graced with 5.68 runs of support per game; the over is 13-8-1 when he pitches. Schmidt has allowed seven runs in 14 innings – none in the six he threw against Atlanta on Friday.