Another Tough Right-Hander: Chris Young Keeps Matt Kemp On The Bench?

by faketeams on Apr 12, 2008 10:38 PM EDT in Baseball

Is it official yet? Has Dodgers OF Juan Pierre been declared an everyday player? Last night, Dodgers' manager Joe Torre sat Matt Kemp against last season's Nl Cy Young winner, Jake Peavy, one of the best right-handed pitchers in baseball. While I do not believe you sit your best hitter against any pitcher, I cannot argue that Peavy is a tough one.

Tonight, Kemp is again on the bench against a right-hander. This time, though, it is softer-tossing Chris Young. Is there really any reason for sitting Kemp? Has he gotten on the wrong side of Torre?

A couple of other notes from the start of tonight's Padres/Dodgers game:

Jackie Chan threw out the 1st pitch to Andruw Jones. Jones looked gigantic next to Chan. Either Chan is really small or Jones is a monster.
Raphael Furcal lead-off with a HR. Juan Pierre followed with a first-pitch slap bunt to third for the 1st out of the game.
Andre Ethier is batting third. I can't see a 15 HR player as a three-hole hitter. Kemp really should be playing.
$36MM CF Andruw Jones hit 6th in a Kemp-less line-up. I fear he is going to be a very old 31 soon enough. Enjoy the potential HoF talk now. It'll be gone in two seasons.

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Comments

Torre

LA has lost 4 in a row, and Kemp has played in one of those games? I certainly hope they are showcasing Pierre for a trade. Otherwise, the boo birds in LA will get very loud.
Bring back Little!!! Torre's experience is not going to make much difference with the talent LA has.

raygu

by Ray Guilfoyle on Apr 12, 2008 10:46 PM EDT reply actions

Soft-tosser maybe, but...

Chris Young does have a K/9 against righties up around 10. Not exactly a good matchup for Kemp. Don't get me wrong, not a fan of how this is going one bit, but against Peavy and Chris Young I don't quite blame Torre. Kemp has to prove he can control the strikezone or righties like these are going to tear him up. Not that Pierre is any better, but when you have some pressure from the top not to show up the GM for two of the worst signings in recent memory (Pierre/Jones) I'll pass judgement on Torre here and save my wrath for another day.

by finite24 on Apr 12, 2008 10:54 PM EDT reply actions

-1

Kemp has the potential to change a game with one swing, Pierre does not.
If this team does not win this year, Ned will be gone and Torre will be on the hot seat, especially when he continues to play Pierre over Kemp.
Maybe from here on out Kemp gets more ABs.If he doesn't, the fans will let him know.
Pierre is 0-2 tonight...grounde out to 1b in his last AB.

raygu

by Ray Guilfoyle on Apr 12, 2008 11:07 PM EDT reply actions

CY

that tough RHer has thrown 70 pitches in 2.2 innings....4 runs, 6 hits and 3bbs.....some tough Rher...5-1 Dodgers.
I am not thrilled with Joe.

raygu

by Ray Guilfoyle on Apr 12, 2008 11:16 PM EDT reply actions

On Young...

have a look over at GOTOS (Greener on the other Side). Young is there best bet for the NL Cy and they've got a hell of a lot of SABR behind that.

by finite24 on Apr 13, 2008 12:05 PM EDT up reply actions

Kemp

homers to right.....hope Torre saw him hit that ball on the outside part of the plate the other way

raygu

by Ray Guilfoyle on Apr 13, 2008 12:25 AM EDT reply actions

season ticket

Man, I miss Season Ticket. My trees in the back yard are too high for the Direct TV. I wish I would have known that before I moved.

by acr on Apr 13, 2008 12:46 AM EDT reply actions

MLB.tv

I watch on the internet with the premium MLB.tv package. I can't see Yankees or Mets games, but the rest are fair.

by faketeams on Apr 13, 2008 9:11 AM EDT up reply actions

mlb.tv

what does that cost for the season? I have the mlb extra innings package, but neither SD-LA game was covered.

raygu

by Ray Guilfoyle on Apr 13, 2008 9:36 AM EDT reply actions

mlb.tv

It says $19.95 per month or $119.95 for a whole season. There is also a place for you to insert you zip code for it to check on your market as the web page says "Watch every 2008 regular season out-of-market game live." So apparently the blackout would still be there. It probably logs your IP (and traces it) to make sure you are unable to view in-market games. Maybe going through a proxy and/or entering an out of market zip code and having an out of market address on your credit card would do the trick? I am not sure if something like Open DNS would work or not or trying to change your IP address. Otherwise, same ole' story.

by acr on Apr 13, 2008 5:22 PM EDT up reply actions

Torre

must have some type of vendetta against Kemp as he is out of the lineup again today. This is getting really ridiculous.
Jon Weisman over at Dodger Thoughts has a nice writeup on this subject.

www.dodgerthoughts.com

How soon before the Grady Little banter starts. He at least saw that Kemp needs to play everyday. Torre apparently doesn;t.
This only makes sense if Pierre is trade bait....nothing else. Pierre is not a better hitter or fielder than Kemp.
What could be the LOGICAL reason for this? Torre has made one good decision....that is playing Ethier over Pierre. Playing Pierre over Kemp is insane. Can we get Torre a doctor?

raygu

by Ray Guilfoyle on Apr 13, 2008 1:58 PM EDT reply actions

Torre

maybe because he had the benefit of overpaid allstars at every position with the Yankees, he never had to put thought into making out a lineup card or evaluating young talent. Maybe Don Mattingly met more to him than meets the eye? Maybe Mike Easler isn't getting in his ear enough?
Let's hope Mattingly comes back soon....could be the answer to Torre's brainfarts when it comes to making out a lineup.

raygu

by Ray Guilfoyle on Apr 13, 2008 2:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Ok, Young/Peavy I understood...

but not this. There's gotta be some sorta pressure from the top to give Pierre a chance to earn back some trade value. Gotta be, right? Wonder what the relationship between Pierre and Kemp is like?

by finite24 on Apr 13, 2008 4:38 PM EDT reply actions

Torre

One swing of the bat could have changed the game today, as LA lost 1-0, and Kemp was on the bench in favor of weak hitting Pierre. Nice move Torre!
When Pierre was benched, he sulked like Kent and Gonzalez last year. I haven't heard one mention of Kemp sulking or complaining, yet he should be complaining loudly, but he isn't a veteran yet, so he's not allowed.
Yes another loss with Pierre in the lineup, Joe. Get the picture?

raygu

by Ray Guilfoyle on Apr 13, 2008 6:58 PM EDT reply actions

Torre on Kemp

this is why Pierre started over Kemo today:

Pierre is hitting .364 lifetime against Maddux, and it isn't a small sample size -- he is 13 for 31. Thus, Kemp is sitting again. Kemp's career .500 against Maddux IS a small sample size, as he is 1 for 2.
Uhmmm....Pierre has been playing for about 5-6 more years than Kemp, so this will come up alot.

raygu

by Ray Guilfoyle on Apr 13, 2008 7:47 PM EDT reply actions

HoF manager

LOL. That is the stupidest fricking thing I've heard. If Maddux is as smart as everyone says he is, then he knows Juan Pierre is no threat and let's him hit the ball.

Torre has fallen in love again. After a year of forelornness after his original love, Bernie Williams, was not brought back to the Yankls in 07, he moved West and found what his heart was missing in Juan Pierre.

by faketeams on Apr 13, 2008 8:34 PM EDT up reply actions

it's funny

that the guy every team was asking about in the off-season is on the bench, and the guy who no one wants is starting. I wish Grady Little was still managing the Dodgers....at least he knew who the best players were, and played them everyday.

raygu

by Ray Guilfoyle on Apr 13, 2008 8:58 PM EDT reply actions

Also funny

A post on the Dodgers OF attracts 10 posts by raygu. I'm not judging, mind you -- it's just so fitting, like the perfect Maddux pitch.

by Xavier. on Apr 14, 2008 1:37 AM EDT reply actions

Maddux

from DodgerThoughts

When Brad Penny and Maddux were teammates on the Dodgers, during the last two months of 2006, they had a conversation one day that led Penny to reach a stunning conclusion: This guy knows my stuff better than I do. It was eerie, really, how easily Maddux dissected Penny's repertoire and suggested ways to maximize it. Penny, figuring he'd take advantage of the situation, asked Maddux to call a game for him against the Cubs. And so, on the night of Sept. 13, Penny glanced into the dugout before every delivery and found Maddux, who signaled the next pitch by looking toward different parts of the ballpark. Penny threw seven scoreless innings with no walks and beat the Cubs 6-0. "Maddux probably won't tell you that story," Penny says. He's right.

raygu

by Ray Guilfoyle on Apr 14, 2008 8:44 AM EDT reply actions

From ESPN Magazine

That quote is from the article in the current issue of the magazine. Every maddux article is basically the same. I'd be interested in a Maddux biography if it included how Maddux perceives what he sees.

by faketeams on Apr 14, 2008 9:13 AM EDT up reply actions