Hey, Bad Lookin'!

Tomorrow’s the big day. New, functioning, not broken anymore nose. Maybe I’ll even look Brad Pitt or Donny Osmond or Craig Biggio. As long as I look better than me. Speaking of not looking good, let’s talk briefly about the Dodgers last night. What a horrid performance turned in by everyone except Jeff Kent. Manny was being Manny a couple of times, but he was also being Andruw Jones and Andre Ethier, the hero of the homestand up to now, looked like he just got back from a bender. I mean, he was clueless as can be at the plate. I can’t begin to articulate how terrible he was. He must have left 12 runners on base all by himself. Hiroki Kuroda was not himself and I think I’ve finally figured out his pattern. Three good games, 2 awful ones, 3 strong outings, 2 horrible ones, etc. That doesn’t bode well for his next start. Also, very worried about Hong Chi Kuo. Man, has he been lousy his last 2 stints on the mound. The whole bullpen sucked ass but we’re really counting on Kuo and if he becomes ineffective, we’re totally screwed. Especially since we know Greg Maddux can only go 6 innings tops. They’re back to being a game out of first and like I’ve always said, the Rockies have a very tough lineup. They’d better get it together tonight against lefty Jeff Francis – a Cy Young candidate last year and this year… not so much.

Would like to talk a little about our beloved overrated catcher, Russell Martin. After watching Martin step up to the plate last night with the bases loaded following a 3-1 single by Manny and a 5 pitch walk to Loney and the Dodgers down by a run, I was shocked to see him swing at the first offering by Manny Corpas and fly out meekly to right field. That dude is so freakin’ inconsistent, not only with his physical play, but with his mental play. Everybody just RAVES about Russell, but let’s look at his numbers: .289 batting average, Very respectable, but only 54 RBIs hitting in the middle of the lineup all year long. 11 home runs, so clearly, he’s hasn’t got a lot of power. A solid on base percentage of .391. His at bats are often a mystery. Like Kemp, (but less and less because Kemp is improving) he goes up there without a clue and kills rallies and leaves guys on base. He swings at just about everything these days, (as does Loney) and defensively, he’s no Steve Yeager. Martin has, if not THE lowest, certainly one of the lowest percentages in throwing out opposing base stealers in the NL. Let's face it. He’s just an okay catcher. He blocks the plate well, he calls a decent game. But is he the superstar the Dodgers and their fans make him out to be? Absolutely not. Look around the Bigs at all the catchers who’s numbers are better than Martin’s: Yadier Molina, Benji Molina, Brian McCann, Geovanny Soto, Ryan Doumit, Dionar Navarro, A.J. Pierzynski, Joe Mauer, Victor Martiniez (when he’s not hurt.) And those are just offensive stats. Even the Dbacks’ Chris Snyder has driven in more runs. Russell Martin appears to have the makings of a better than average, solid, streaky catcher who’s a gamer, can hit a little bit and can also play a little 3rd base. But why does everyone go crazy at the mere mention of his name and already have a space cleared out for him in the Hall? The best thing he can do for the team is to take a day or two off and see if he can get his head straightened out at the plate.

The Dodgers, as I’ve mentioned before in this space, have always had an irritating tendency to overrate their young players. Matt Kemp is a project but he clearly has the highest ceiling of the Dodgers’ kiddy corps along with Billingsley and Kershaw. Ethier? Good skills, has been showing us a lot lately, but may turn out to be nothing more than a Bill Buckner. Loney? I think he may have reached his plateau. He seems half asleep out there sometimes and where the hell did all his power go? I mean, he had SOME. But my friend Howard Cott, a fine catcher in his own right back in the day, makes an excellent point. From the Dodger organization, where are the Ryan Brauns, the Chase Utleys, the David Wrights and the Hanley Ramirezes? Why haven’t the Dodgers been able to bring up a young offensive powerhouse since Mike Piazza? And if Ethier, Loney and Martin don’t become stars, and Blake ends up leaving and Ramirez ends up in pinstripes which is the likeliest scenario (they could offer him more years because of the DH) what will the team look like next year? Where are the bats? Who's gonna play second base? And with Penny done and Lowe leaving, where’s the pitching beyond Billingsley, Kershaw and Kuroda? Good questions. But for now, let’s concentrate on getting to 4 games over .500 on August 20th. Jeez.