Post-Game 159 Thread: Dodgers, Giants Solidify Placements

GIANTS 3, DODGERS 2

The Dodgers lost the rubber match and ended up the season with an 8-11 record against San Francisco this year. But the Dodgers, 36-37 against the NL West, are going to the playoffs while the Giants, 42-31 against the NL West are not. This is because the Dodgers went 55-31 against the rest of the majors, while the Giants went a dismal 32-54. But enough math!

The Dodgers' loss...demonstrated that Edinson Volquez might be passable as a fourth starter (5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB and 4 Ks). Paco Rodriguez, who lost the game on an eighth-inning Angel Pagan HR, might be a bit worn. And the offense wasn't fully clicking; Carl Crawford had a first-inning triple and scored on an Adrian Gonzalez sacrifice; Juan Uribe and Mark Ellis strung consecutive doubles to notch another run.

But the Dodgers have more important games to consider, especially with their fate solidifying as the third-best division-leading record in the NL. This would put the Dodgers on the road for the first two games of the NLDS, with home games October 6 and 7 (and a final fifth game on the road, if necessary). Both Atlanta (54-24 at home) and St. Louis (51-27) are formidable at home, so I suppose it's a tossup.

The Giants win...vaults them ahead of the Mets in the standings, making them the 12th worst team in the majors. This is a good thing. On top of that, Tim Lincecum (7.0 IP of 2 ER ball) didn't look all that bad last night. So the Giants should really be picking up Lincecum (10-14 this season; ND last night) on a long-term deal. Absolutely.

Game 159 Thread: Sept 26 @ Giants, 7p

Edinson Volquez (9-12, 5.77) vs. Tim Lincecum (10-14, 4.44).

Ricky Nolasco's sub-par performance last evening put our postseason starting rotation more into doubt. (He lost to Barry Zito, for pete's sake.) And there's already been enough sadness and tragedy around Phone Book Park in the last 24 hours.

So let's see if Volquez can deliver us a series win tonight and get us back in the happy column. Except, wait a second, we want the Giants, currently the 11th-worst team in the majors, to not fall into the bottom 10, right?

Ah, this is so confusing. No it's not!

Post-Game 154 Thread: Send In The Scrubs

PADRES 2, DODGERS 0

With most of the Dodgers' core group of starters unavailable, as their uniforms were being run through the clothes dryer (gotta use gentle cycle or they could shrink; right, Uribe?!), the Dodgers fielded a minor-league lineup today and got...minor league results.

Prior to the ninth inning, the Dodgers were held to only four hits (two from Skip Schumaker, including two doubles; one from Dee Gordon (1-for-4 with a SB) and one from late double-switch entry Michael Young). We had made three errors (Gordon, Carlos Marmol, and Tim Federowicz). The ninth had some slight intrigue: another Skip Schumaker double to leadoff the inning, with Skip advancing to third on a one-out Adrian Gonzalez PH single. But Yasiel Puig's PH appearance ended in a K, as did Matt Kemp's PH appearance. Should have let those guys rest, Donnie!

Edinson Volquez did pretty well: 6.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER (HR by Jedd Gyorko), 4 BB and 6 Ks. Marmol pitched 1.1 IP and it was a push, 3 BB and 3 Ks. I'm all for resting the starters, but shouldn't that mean giving them a full nine-inning respite?

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Game 149 Thread: Sept 15 vs. Giants, 1p

Edinson Volquez (9-11, 5.99) vs. Ryan Vogelsong (3-5, 5.82).

We've had some fun. Yes, we've had our ups and downs. Been down that rocky road, but here we are, still around.

Yes, we're Stuck...on Fore, our magic number in the NL West. Last night's truck-runs-us-over-then-stops-reverses-and-drives-over-us-again evening wasn't pleasant. Can Volquez win the battle of the stratospheric ERAs, and salvage a series split over the last-place, mathematically-eliminated Giants?

We've had our doubts, we never took them seriously. And we've had our ins and outs, but that's the way it's supposed to be.

That said, clinching the divisional title so we can start resting everyone (save Matt Kemp, who is scheduled to play the last ten games) wouldn't be such a bad idea, either.

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Post-Game 144 Thread: Scott Van Slyke, Baby

"Really, even after getting drenched by Hanley and Yasiel, I'm happier than this."

DODGERS 5, DIAMONDBACKS 3 (11)

Scott Van Slyke had a walkoff pinch-hit HR with Mark Ellis aboard and one out in the bottom of the 11th, nailing a 1-0 Josh Collmenter pitch just inside the left field foul pole. Wow.

The Dodgers got two in the second inning thanks to a Miguel Montero throwing error on an Edinson Volquez bunt, and then a Yasiel Puig force out RBI. Arizona got one back in the fourth and took a 3-2 lead in the fifth, off a Didi Gregorius HR. Andre Ethier doubled in Hanley Ramirez in the bottom of the fifth to tie it.

Volquez went 6.0 IP with 4 H and 3 ER, 1 BB and 5 Ks. Not a bad outing for a pickup dueling for the fifth starter slot. Paco Rodriguez, Ronald Belisario, Kenley Jansen, JP Howell, and Chris Withrow all combined for scoreless innings to hold down the fort, giving Van Slyke the opportunity to get ready.

And so it went to extra innings, where Van Slyke's heroics ended it. Magic number drops to six. And the magic seems like it's coming back...

That's a six, right? Because it also looks like a nine, which wouldn't work for this PGT.

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Game 144 Thread: Sept. 10 vs. DBacks, 7p

The Magic Number
Edinson Volquez (0-1, 7.20) vs. Trevor Cahill (6-10, 4.35)

Count Von Count would have LOVED last night's game.

"One... Two... Three... Four... Five... Six! SIX! SIX HOME RUNS! AH AH AH!"

The Count will have another opportunity to, well, count tonight with Edinson Volquez and his 7.20 ERA taking the mound for the second time as a Dodger. (The Count would also have a lot of fun with the number of different names Edinson has used in his career.) I'd normally be pretty worried, but it definitely looked like the sleeping offense finally awoke last night. Can we get six more home runs tonight? Seven? Eight?

Twelve?

Congratulations to NL Pitcher of the Month for August Zack Greinke

So this means Dodgers had NL pitcher of the month for July (Kershaw) and August (Greinke). By my rough calculation, that's a lot of the summer spent having the best pitchers in the NL. Clearly, we kept pitching. (cc: Fred's Brim)

Greinke, who also won an American League Pitcher of the Month Award in April 2009 as a member the Royals, went 5-0 in August, posting a 1.23 ERA in the process. The Dodgers righty racked up 30 strikeouts and eight walks over 36 2/3 innings while making a significant contribution to the Dodgers' Major League-best 2.07 ERA for the month.

I'm going to make a prediction and say Edinson Volquez will not win this honor for September.

Post-Game 139 Thread: Edinson Does Not Shine

ROCKIES 7, DODGERS 5

Despite fielding a lineup without Yasiel Puig, Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez, Mark Ellis, or Andre Ethier, the Dodgers actually made this kinda close. But five runs plus a whole bunch of other squandered opportunities were not enough to offset a couple of pitchers' lousy showings tonight.

Edinson Volquez made his debut as a Dodger starter and lasted only 4.0 IP, yielding 6 H and 4 ER (0 BB, 4 Ks) over 75 pitches. He did not look comfortable; dare I say, blown out? Nor did Carlos Marmol, who reverted to Cubbian form by giving up 3 H and 3 R (2 ER) in an inning of "work" (Marmol also added a balk for good measure). Brandon League had a shaky fifth but escaped. All three appearances should be good data points as we consider postseason rosters.

All the position player starters listed above (save Mark Ellis) ended up getting in the game, and none got a hit (Puig, Crawford, and A-Gon all Kd). Michael Young with 3-for-5 with 2 RBI. Charlie Culberson did not play left field tonight, so we didn't have a chance to make up three runs on an error. And so, the Dodgers' magic number remains at 12. Lights out, kids: off-day tomorrow!

image swiped from here

Game 139 Thread: Sept. 4 @ Rockies, 5:30p

Edinson Volquez (9-10, 5.97) vs. Jorge De La Rosa (15-6, 3.33).

NL West Magic Number: 12

There are four players tied for first in the NL with 15 wins, and De La Rosa is one of them (along with the Pirates' Francisco Liriano, the Cardinals' Adam Wainwright, and the Nationals' Jordan Zimmerman; the Dodgers' duo of Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke are tied for fifth with 14). Plus, the Rockies are salty and looking to salvage a win at home in their offensive-powered ballpark.

Sounds like the perfect setup for the debut of Edinson Volquez (as a Dodgers starter, that is)!

The career stats don't speak favorably for Volquez, either. His career win percentage in Sept/Oct is only .300 (6-14), by far his worst month. Volquez has a 1-4 record at Coors Field with an ERA of 8.39, by far his worst ballpark in the NL West. And, like many of the rest of us, Volquez suffers from a fear of the Rockies' mascot Dinger (or so it is alleged), ever since that unfortunate baby-eating incident on the Rockies' field.

Poor mom never saw the attack on her child coming

All the more reason why, in today's game, I expect Edinson to get lit up. (Yes, I know that's a bad pun, but I filament to do just that.)

Edison photo taken from CNN (uncredited); Dinger image swiped from here

Buster Olney Likes Colletti's Dumpster Diving

Image likely not of Ned Colletti

Whatever Ned Colletti has been selling lately, it appears ESPN.com's Buster Olney has been buying (link insider only):

The postseason often comes down to bullpen and bench, as some managers will argue, so in that context, think about what Dodgers GM Ned Colletti has done in recent weeks:

1. Added Carlos Marmol, a plus arm with a wipeout slider, in a salary dump by the Cubs. Look, Cubs fans may never forgive him for all of his blown saves, but while with the Dodgers, he’s thrived pitching in low-leverage spots. He hasn’t allowed a run in his past 11 outings for L.A., allowing just five hits in 11 innings. He costs the Dodgers $500,000 for this year. (In that deal, the Dodgers also acquired $200,000 in international-signing cap space.)

2. Signed Brian Wilson, who threw in the 93 mph range in his first three appearances. The Dodgers are paying him $1 million.

3. Signed Edinson Volquez. For $82,000, the Dodgers have somebody to compete with Chris Capuano for the No. 5 spot in the rotation who also gives them some fall-back in case they're hit by a series of injuries.

4. Traded for Michael Young. The Dodgers really didn’t have anybody to step in at first base in the event that Adrian Gonzalez went down. Now they add a proven veteran hitter who can not only play first base, if needed, but could also play third or the two middle-infield positions, or pinch-hit. He’ll cost the Dodgers $810,000.

Juan Uribe figures to hold on to the everyday job at third base, but Young’s presence will continue to push him -- and throughout the roster, there will be a lot of internal competition. Once Matt Kemp comes back, the four outfielders -- Yasiel Puig, Carl Crawford, Andre Ethier and Kemp -- will be battling for three spots. Nick Punto, Skip Schumaker, Jerry Hairston and Young are all available if Uribe struggles or if Mark Ellis gets hurt.

Are you looking for experienced depth? Well, Young has played in the World Series twice, Schumaker has won two championship rings, Hairston was part of the Yankees’ championship team in 2009, Punto has played in the postseason three times and Wilson got the final out of the 2010 World Series.

The Dodgers can do a lot of stuff because they have a big payroll, but a lot of these moves were done on the cheap -- Marmol, Young, Wilson and Volquez cost L.A. about $2.4 million altogether.

Without a doubt, we have incredible versatility in the discarded players we have to use. Will any of them step up to be a factor for us in the playoffs (amidst reduced roster sizes)? We'll see.

photo swiped from here

Game 135 Thread: August 31 vs. Padres, 6p

Chris Capuano (4-7, 4.74 ERA) vs. Andrew Cashner (8-8, 3.55 ERA)

Capuano goes tonight to try to prove he should remain the fifth starter over recently-acquired Edinson Volquez. But really, doesn't it just come down to who is the lesser to two evils? The fact that we're even having a fifth starter competition at this point in a season where we're 10.5 games up with only 28 games to play seems absurd. They're both crap; Cap as a starter (however oddly symmetrical his pitching stats above may be) and Edinson out of the pen. I guess we have to have something to complain about in an otherwise positive stretch run. We keep this winning up, and the Stat Lickers will start in again complaining when we get a reliever warmed up in the pen but don't use him.

Today is the last day before September call-ups. Ned says he expects to bring up 5-7 guys from the minors, but not make any more acquisitions. Also in the mix is the return of Matt Kemp. With roster expansion and a comfortable lead in the division, this should allow Mattingly to give guys some needed days off so they're rested for the post season. The day off and the off day seemed to be just what Adrian Gonzalez needed, and it showed last night.

Yes, I said it. Post season. Better get ready.

I Was Afraid This Might Happen

Source: #Dodgers agree with Volquez on major-league deal, pending physical, other details. #Padres pay all but pro-rated min of his $5.725M.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 29, 2013

UPDATE (10.27p) (Sax): From ESPN, Volquez is in discussions only because Capuano hasn't been able to get it done:

Volquez is 9-10 with a 6.01 ERA in 27 starts this season. He has struck out 116 and walked 69 in 142 1/3 innings.

The Dodgers may be interested in Volquez as a possible replacement in the rotation for Chris Capuano, who has a 4.74 ERA in 20 games for the Dodgers this year.

If Woody had gone to the police, this would never have happened.

UPDATE 2 (8/29 4.56a) (Sax): More on Volquez, from Jim Caple's piece:

San Diego's Edinson Volquez, meanwhile, allowed the first eight batters to reach safely on Friday (2/3 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HBP), didn't get out of the first inning and received a pink slip after the game.