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Know Your Foe #10: It is Payback Time in Dodgertown

By Andrew T. Fisher
It has been a dark season for the Dodgers so far.
It has been a dark season for the Dodgers so far.

The last place Los Angeles Dodgers.  Swish that around in your mouth for a bit.  Good, huh?

The task is simple.  Win this series and the Rockies manage a winning record on the brutal nine-game road trip through California, a trip that includes four starts by rookie pitchers.  With Los Angeles in last place, this is doable, but perhaps not as much as you'd like to think.

Los Angeles Dodgers (12-16, 5.5 GB, 5th NL west) 

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Friday-Sunday: 3-game series @ Dodger Stadium

Rockies' 2009 Record against the Dodgers: 4-14

Rockies' 2009 Record at Dodger Stadium: 2-7

Even after losing their last series to the Brewers in Los Angeles, the Dodgers are a respectable 8-5 at home.  Included in that record are series wins against Arizona (something the Rockies couldn't do) and against the first-place Giants. Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp continue to be monsters in the lineup, James Loney has shown signs of returning to prominence by reversing his staggering home/road splits, and Manny Ramirez returns to the lineup tommorrow.  Then of course, the Rockies will be tossing out rookies Esmil Rogers and Jhoulys Chacin in a ballpark that has never treated Colorado kindly.  

This should be a very telling series.  I am excited.

 

Lineups etc. after the jump.  Or jump to TrueBlueLA for their series preview.

 

Expected Pitching Matchups

Friday, 7 May 2010 @ 8:10 pm MT

W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP
2010 - Esmil Rogers 0-1 4 1 0 0 0 0 8.0 7 6 5 2 6 7 5.63 1.63
W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP
2010 - Hiroki Kuroda 3-1 5 5 0 0 0 0 34.2 32 13 8 3 7 25 2.08 1.13

Obviously, this game favors the Dodgers the most.  Kuroda has saved my fantasy pitching staff, while Rogers will be making his third career start (all away from Coors, ironically).  Of course, that means if the Rockies somehow steal this one (which is also the one game Manny Ramirez won't be in the lineup), there's huge chance we could take a road series at Dodger Stadium.


Saturday, 8 May 2010 @ 8:10 pm MT
W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP
2010 - Jhoulys Chacin 1-0 2 1 0 0 0 0 8.0 1 0 0 0 3 9 0.00 .50
W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP
2010 - Charlie Haeger 0-3 6 4 0 0 0 0 23.1 26 21 17 3 17 23 6.56 1.84
What a fun matchup this one is.  If you haven't heard, Haeger is a knuckleballer who hasn't quite figured out how to achieve control and movement at the big league level.  In his best start, his knuckler was moving so much he walked four and threw three wild pitches.  Still, his movement that day was akin to Tim Wakefield's average knuckler.  His best start other than that was a 4-run 2-HR outing over 5.1 IP.  Still, Chacin couldn't possibly mow down the Dodgers' lineup as he did the Giants' "lineup," and you never know what you'll get from a knuckleballer.  Should be good Saturday night fare.


Sunday, 9 May 2010 @ 2:10 pm MT
W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP
2010 - Ubaldo Jimenez 6-0 6 6 1 1 0 0 41.1 26 4 4 0 16 44 0.87 1.02
W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP
2010 - Clayton Kershaw 1-2 6 6 0 0 0 0 30.2 28 17 17 3 24 36 4.99 1.70
It's amazing how four weeks of baseball can change our tune.  Many Rockies fans see this game as the one we should win.  With Ubaldo Jimenez throwing like Nolan Ryan and Clayton Kershaw pitching nothing like Sandy Koufax, it would appear to be solidly in the Rockies favor.  Just remember - Jimenez is due for a rough outing (rough like extra fine sandpaper) and was 1-3 with a 6.43 ERA vs. the Dodgers last year; in Kershaw's last three starts against the Rockies in 2009, he held Colorado to just two runs on eight hits in 17.1 IP.

Expected Lineup
Joe Torre had been alternating Reed Johnson and Xavier Paul in the leadoff spot, but with Manny Ramirez returning to the starting lineup in left field, neither will be the leadoff man.  Prior to Ramirez' injury, that role was filled by Rafael Furcal, who is now injured.  So I have no idea what lineup Torre will throw out there, but this is the likely starting eight.
Player Pos AVG OBP SLG OPS ISO BABIP wOBA
Russell Martin C .250 .340 .337 .677 .087 .296 .305
Matt Kemp CF .287 .359 .530 .889 .243 .329 .363
Andre Ethier RF .371 .440 .772 1.162 .351 .342 .492
Manny Ramirez LF .415 .500 .659 1.159 .244 .395 .485
James Loney 1B .330 .361 .461 .822 .130 .387 .362
Casey Blake 3B .253 .317 .440 .757 .187 .308 .326
Blake DeWitt 2B .296 .405 .366 .771 .070 .344 .352
Jamey Carroll SS .269 .391 .308 .699 .038 .333 .321

That's a pretty solid lineup, especially 2-5.

 

Bench

I presume Xavier Paul will get sent down when Ramirez returns.

Player Pos AVG OBP SLG OPS ISO BABIP wOBA
Ronnie Belliard IF .289 .353 .467 .820 .178 .308 .356
Nick Green IF .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000
Reed Johnson OF .245 .259 .377 .637 .132 .302 .271
Garrett Anderson PH/OF .133 .167 .222 .389 .089 .156 .173
A.J. Ellis C .273 .357 .364 .721 .091 .273 .320

As per usual, there's quite the drop off from the starting lineup to the bench with the Dodgers.  I might even take Jason Giambi over that collection, maybe.  Nick Green struck out in his only plate appearance so far this season.


Los Angeles Dodgers Injuries

15-Day

Player Injury Type Injury Date
Manny Ramirez calf 04/23/2010
Rafael Furcal hamstring 04/28/2010

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player Injury Type Injury Date
Brad Ausmus back 04/09/2010
Cory Wade shoulder 03/26/2010


Closer

W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP
2010 - Jonathan Broxton 2-0 10 0 0 0 1 2 9.2 8 2 2 0 1 16 1.86 .93

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