Sunday, June 23, 2013

More Evidence Ned Colletti Is Not Watching The Dodgers Play

Having witnessed first-hand the Dodgers' car-wreck-in-slow-motion on Friday night in San Diego, I'm blown away from the comments by Ned Colletti in today's LAT:

SAN DIEGO — When the front office last rallied around Manager Don Mattingly, the Dodgers were seven games under .500. Another month has passed, and the last-place Dodgers have fallen 11 games under .500.

The Dodgers have played no better, but Mattingly remains the manager.

"It's still our intention that this is how it should be," General Manager Ned Colletti said before Saturday's 6-1 victory over the San Diego Padres.

The Dodgers are on pace to lose 93 games, a total exceeded only once since the team moved to Los Angeles in 1958. They entered play Saturday with the most errors of any team in the major leagues and the fewest runs of any team except the Miami Marlins.

Still, Colletti said, he does not see the lack of effort in the Dodgers players that would make him consider dismissing Mattingly.

"If you see people stopped, you've got to think a different way," Colletti said. "I don't think we've seen anybody stop."

Why would one think the Dodgers might have stopped trying? Oh, maybe the 1-for-9 performance with RISP Friday might be a giveaway. Or the fact that we got the leadoff man on base in seven of our nine innings, but only scored a run in two of those frames. Or the fact that we suffered the misadventures of Elian Herrera in left field in the third inning, when he not only botched a single into a double (for which he got a deserved error), but also misplayed a triple down the line later that inning (for which he got no error but was incredibly slow).

Or maybe it was watching Skip Schumaker come up in the sixth with one out and men on first and second, and watching him GIDP on the first damn pitch. Or Andre Ethier PH for Clayton Kershaw in the seventh and watching him GIDP, also on the first damn pitch.

Or let's fast forward, what about in yesterday's game, when in the top of the second and Ethier on second base, Juan Uribe hits back to the pitcher, and Andre inexplicably takes off for third base where he is out by a mile. What the hell is that?

This 2013 Dodgers team ranks 29th in MLB in runs scored, despite being 13th in BA, 14th in OBP, and even 21st in OPS. We rank 5th in GIDPs. It's like we are using lineups created NOT to score runs.

Defensively, we rank tied for last with Houston in errors committed (56).

Watching these games, there is a demonstrable lack of effort evident in these Dodgers, even in the rare games that we win. I have no idea what games Colletti is watching if he's interpreting things differently. Injuries are one thing, sure. But if Mattingly and the rest of the coaching staff can't even get the team to feign interest and effort, which appears to have evaporated in June, then 11 games under .500 isn't going to be the nadir. It's just a start.

We've got 90-odd games left, boys. Get some nads and start grinding.

6 comments:

Paul said...

I can never before recall feeling like winning 3 in a row is unattainable. Now 2 in a row feels like a tough task. That's pretty bad. Starting Cap on 3 days rest doesn't help.

Dusty Baker said...

This post is quite the shit-in-my-cornflakes post. ANd I completely agree.

I always say I'll support a team through thick and thin as long as they continue trying. At this point, it doesn't seem like they're trying. Or thinking.

Dusty Baker's Toothpick said...

It's like they can't wait to get off the field to grub on post-game shit sandwiches.

Dusty Baker said...

Does one win count as a streak?

Neeebs (The Original) said...

I'm sorry, but Ned is the real problem. The team on the field and the minor league depth (or lack thereof) are prime exhibits.

Steve Sax said...

Sorry about the cornflakes, Dusty!