Rants & Raves

post from LA Dodger Talk on 25 July 2008 09:05:00 AM. © LA Dodger Talk

It is what it is:

According to Diamond Leung of the Press-Enterprise:

Luis Maza has been outrighted to Class AAA Las Vegas.
Ifielder Ramon Martinez, who played for the Dodgers from 2006-07, was released from Class AAA Las Vegas.
Class AAA Las Vegas reliever Greg Miller was placed on the disabled list with lower back tightness.
Former major leaguer Matt Riley was released from Class AAA Las Vegas.
Former major leaguer Mark Bellhorn was released form Class AA Jacksonville.

What would it take to Alex Cora? He’d be a nice backup at SS…
Juan Pierre led off again at AAA and was 1-4 with a walk in what is probably his last game there.
James McDonald went 5 to get his 5th win.
Carlos Santana was 2-3 with 2 BB - his OPS is now .993
Andrew Lambo was 2-4 with his 14th HR for Great Lakes
Nomar has played very well at SS - Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times elaborates. One just wonders if he can stay healthy - he’s due…
If you wonder what Don Mattingley’s style is, read what Tony Jackson of the Daily News writes.
Is Jones still on the roster?
I hope we make ZERO moves, unless it means trading Kent or Lowe or Jones.
Play Andy LaRoche.

Diamond Leung of the Press-Enterprise on Matt Kemp:

Matt Kemp shook his fist on his way to second base. RBI No. 53 on the season was a sweet one and clearly meant something.
A closer’s 92-mph fastball got whacked into the gap, the pinch runner beat the relay throw home with a headlong dive to tie the score in the ninth inning, and the Dodgers would go on to beat the Diamondbacks for a share of the division lead Sunday.
“He just seemed very calm,” Manager Joe Torre said of Kemp. “He took the first pitch. He was a little patient. He had an idea this time of maybe what he wanted to do.”
Could that one at-bat change the course of an entire season for the Dodgers? Kemp downplayed the notion, but the 23-year-old budding star does embody the ever-changing fortunes of this 49-52 team.
In his first full season with the Dodgers, Kemp is tied for first on the team in home runs (11), second in hits (106), RBI (55) and steals (22), and tied for second in runs (52) and doubles (24) while hitting in seven different spots in the lineup.
In other words, the 6-foot-2, 230-pound former basketball player nicknamed “Bison” has got talent.
Kemp can also be perplexing at times. The baserunning blunders are glaring. There was that scuffle with the Rockies catcher that earned him a suspension. And the 108 strikeouts come in bunches, as do the trade rumors.
But remember that pinch runner? Pablo Ozuna signed with the Dodgers the very day he scored on the double, but the veteran utility infielder has history with Kemp and offers a clue to how it might all turn out.
The two played for the same Dominican Winter League team, Estrellas de Oriente, following the 2006 season when Kemp was promoted to the Dodgers straight from Class AA Jacksonville and hit seven homers in his first 18 days in the majors.
Ozuna has tracked the kid’s progress since that winter.
“Different player,” Ozuna said. “More disciplined, more consistent.”
Off-speed pitches were Kemp’s Kryptonite back then, as he traveled to the Dominican Republic to get extra at-bats and a head start going into spring training.
Now it’s apparently the bubbling energy that Kemp displays often times in the clubhouse and on the field that he is working to fight off. (Kemp recently joked on an online chat with fans that he and Jeff Kent listen to rapper Lil’ Wayne together “to get pumped up.”)
This natural nervousness, Kemp conceded, has always been there.
“If you’re not nervous, something’s wrong with you,” Kemp said. “It’s just the way you control your aggression.”