Why I'd Be Mad if I Were A Dodgers Fan

by Charlie Wilmoth on Apr 6, 2008 6:43 PM EDT

Matt Kemp is one of the top young hitters in baseball, and he posted an .894 OPS last year as a 22-year-old rookie. This year, he won a starting job out of camp (as he obviously should've). But it's only taken four games for the Dodgers to start benching him in favor of Juan Pierre. Four games! Kemp started the year 2-for-15, and that was all it took for Joe Torre to staple him to the bench both yesterday and today. The Dodgers have a ton of young talent and they seem determined to squander it.

The stupidity of those sorts of decisions is easier to see when it's not your team who does it. You know, maybe we (me, too) should stop piling on Adam LaRoche. He's played five games.

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Yeah, but...

LaRoche isn't one of the top young hitters in baseball. And we saw him do this bad last April too.

Even if they're squandering most of it, at least the Dodgers have young talent.

Oh, plus... Kemp is on my fantasy team (actually, I think he's on 2 of them). LaRoche... not so much.

Biased Fan
A disillusioned Pirates fan in Utah...

by UtesFan89 on Apr 6, 2008 6:49 PM EDT reply actions

LaRoche isn't one of the top young hitters in baseball. And we saw him do this bad last April too.

That's true. I was going to say that in our defense, but I felt like I was making things too convoluted.

by Charlie Wilmoth on Apr 6, 2008 6:53 PM EDT up reply actions

Maybe

It's more of Steven Pearce that this fits then LaRoche.

Biased Fan
A disillusioned Pirates fan in Utah...

by UtesFan89 on Apr 6, 2008 6:57 PM EDT reply actions

I don't know. Before the season, I don't remember hearing any calls for LaRoche to lose his job. I heard many (and made many) for Nady to lose his. Why should that change just because of six games?

by Charlie Wilmoth on Apr 6, 2008 6:59 PM EDT up reply actions

Not so much

for LaRoche to lose his job permanently... more to give Pearce a shot because LaRoche is playing horribly and the team needs offensive help. Especially given the imploding abilities of 3 or 4 of the 5 starters, and the bullpens woes.

Biased Fan
A disillusioned Pirates fan in Utah...

by UtesFan89 on Apr 6, 2008 7:14 PM EDT up reply actions

Kemp

Kemp might see the light of day because Pierre's hitting .091. If Pierre were 3-for-11 (.273), Matt would probably be looking for a Las Vegas apartment.

by bolton on Apr 6, 2008 9:08 PM EDT reply actions

Steven Pearce

I know I've been beating the Pearce drum pretty hard, but can't they play him somewhere. Nady's gonna have injury issues, and maybe Bay and Laroche need time off.
More on Pearce - I just noticed that according to Baseball America he was listed as the #89 prospect in baseball. Is it possible his sudden success last year surprised and maybe even ticked off the experts?

by meandterry on Apr 6, 2008 9:46 PM EDT reply actions

Agreed on LaRoche, Charlie

I am pessimistic about Bay. He is trending downward both offensively and defensively and he just doesn't seem to care to be a leader or play very hard. LaRoche, though, deserves a little more time before I make that judgment about him. There are a lot of proven players that start poorly each year--I think David Ortiz is 3 for 26 right now, Paul Konerko 3 for 19, Alfonso Soriano 2 for 26. Should any of these guys lose his job?

by DITO on Apr 6, 2008 10:06 PM EDT reply actions

Torre loves his veterans

I'm NH, I'm on the phone every day to see what the Dodgers want for Kemp.

by bucdaddy on Apr 7, 2008 12:01 AM EDT reply actions

Wow...

Best case scenario...

Kuroda/someone else in their rotation goes down...Matt Morris puts together solid back to back to back starts...Nady hits a few more jacks in the next few weeks...Kemp/Pierre keep hitting a collective .110...Bucs dump Morris and Nady for Kemp...

Is there a shot in hell they could be dumb enough to do that?

by DITO on Apr 7, 2008 12:54 PM EDT up reply actions

You might have named this post

Why I AM mad because I own Matt Kemp in a fantasy league.

by scoreboard on Apr 7, 2008 8:21 AM EDT reply actions

Nah.

With Justin Upton's hot start, I can live with it. I'm not starting Kemp right now.

by Charlie Wilmoth on Apr 7, 2008 1:05 PM EDT up reply actions

You can't talking about the BucsDugout league

b/c I have Kemp.

by DITO on Apr 7, 2008 1:08 PM EDT up reply actions

Oh

I meant to that your post certainly applies to me, scoreboard.

by DITO on Apr 7, 2008 1:09 PM EDT up reply actions

Nah, my other league.

It's a keeper league.

by Charlie Wilmoth on Apr 7, 2008 1:17 PM EDT up reply actions

Jason Bay

I definetly feel that if anyone deserves to sit its jason bay. LaRoche is off to another slow start but who is the one on the team who is supposed to be an all star? Jason Bay. They should have traded him in the off season. The outfield should Be McClouth in left, Morgan in center, Pierce in right and put the X Man at third. Bay just looks like he don't care whats going on. You'd figure he would have worked extremely hard in the offseason and come back stronger and in better shape. It seems the only thing he worked on was how to walk and strike out looking.

by gorillakilla34 on Apr 9, 2008 1:35 PM EDT reply actions