Dodgers vs Angels - May 30th Simulation Results

Angels vs Dodgers - May 28th Simulation Results

Angels vs Dodgers - Simulation Results May 27th

Time For Matt Kemp To Take A Break?

Coming in to the 2013 Dodgers season, as most Dodgers fans were busy ordering playoff tickets and getting fitted for Championship t-shirts, I was saying to myself that I didn't want to "win this way" and more importantly I didn't want to "lose this way".  Well, here we are only at the end of May but the Dodgers are definitely "losing this way".  Yeah, there are lots of problems, too many for me to cover but the one that really sticks out is Matt Kemp being a shell of his former self at the plate.

2013 Matt Kemp
- wOBA 0.285
- OPS 0.656

Those are awful numbers.  Those are the numbers are number four hitter has been putting up for the first two months of the season.  And apparently Matt Kemp is not in a slump.  He is not unlucky.  He is just not good at hitting for the time being.

What's wrong with Matt Kemp?  Who knows.  I will leave that for the medical staff, hitting coaches and sports psychologists out there.  But what I do know, is that you cannot have your number three hitter putting up an OPS of 0.656 over a two month period with NO sign that a turn around is on the horizon.

Here are some options, and there are likely a few more.  In draconian order.

1. Put Matt Kemp on the DL and send him to the minors to rehab.

Pros: Matt Kemp is "hurting" this team and the team with its payroll is in a win now mode.  Matt Kemp is weighting down this ship.  Call up Joc Pederson who is tearing up AA and let Skip Schumaker back him up.

Cons: Nobody seems to know for sure what is causing Matt Kemp not to hit and nobody seems to know what course of action will help him rebound.  Matt's ego.

2. Bench Matt Kemp

Pros: He can rest a little bit and still see the occasional major league pitcher while working on his swing in the cages with hitting coach Mark McGwire.  He won't be making as many outs.  Joc Pederson or someone from the minors gets a chance.

Cons:  Nobody seems to know for sure what is causing Matt Kemp not to hit and nobody seems to know what course of action will help him rebound.  Matt's ego.

3. Drop Matt Kemp in the batting order.

Pros: Matt Kemp still gets to see major league pitching but perhaps does less damage to the Dodgers offense batting 7th or 8th in the order.

Cons:  Nobody seems to know for sure what is causing Matt Kemp not to hit and nobody seems to know what course of action will help him rebound. Matt's ego.

The biggest problem to me is the fact that nobody seems to know for sure what is Matt Kemp's problem at the plate.  Is it physical or is it mental or somewhere in between.  And if so, what is the right path to take.  This team was built to win NOW.  The payroll is enormous.  The pressure to win is enormous.  This team already has enough dead weight.  We have two very good outfielders in the minor leagues.  There would obviously be some risk in calling them up to play a tough defensive position and Carl Crawford can probably no longer play CF due to his weak throwing arm.  I would start at #3 on my list and every 7-10 days move up a notch.  Moving him down in the lineup will not help him get better but if you are going to play him every day just because he supposedly needs to play to get better/feel better (w/e that means) then for the love of God drop in the batting order.  If no improvement is made (which there likely won't be) then bench him and let him rest and work out the kinks out of the batting order where he cannot hurt this team.  If that doesn't work then send his butt down to the minors to work it out.  I wish him the best, but this team needs to win now and it isn't likely to happen with Matt Kemp playing every day and batting fourth in the lineup.

Cardinals vs Dodgers - Simulation Results May 26th

Cardinals vs Dodgers - Simulation Results May 25th

Cardinals vs Dodgers - May 24th Simultion Results

2013 World Series Odds

Team	12/15/12 Odds	12/29/12 Odds	5/22/2013
Tigers	7	7	7
Rangers	10	14	7.25
Braves	16	16	9
Nationals	8	8	9.5
Cardinals	14	14	11
Yankees	10	12	13.5
Reds	10	12	13.5
Giants	14	14	13.5
Red Sox	30	30	14
Rays	20	16	25
Athletics	40	30	25
Orioles	50	50	25
Dodgers	7	7	27
Indians	60	80	30
Angels	7	7	33
Blue Jays	10	10	35
Diamdonbacks	40	50	35
Royals	30	40	40
Pirates	50	50	40
Phillies	16	14	66
Rockies	100	100	66
Brewers	30	30	125
Padres	100	100	150
White Sox	40	40	175
Mariners	60	80	175
Mets	60	100	200
Twins	100	100	200
Cubs	60	50	300
Marlins	100	100	2500
Astros	100	100	2500

Note: All odds are "to 1", ie - 60 is 60-1 odds.

Dodgers vs Brewers - Simulation Results May 22nd

Dodgers vs Brewers - May 21st Simulation Results

Dodgers vs Brewers Simulation Results - May 20th

Dodgers vs Braves - May 19th Simulation Results

Vegas Top Favorites

Date	Away	Home	Away SP	Home SP	Vegas Fave	ML Fave	ML Dog	Vegas Win Exp	Result
5/15/2013	HOU	DET	Dan Keuchel	Max Scherzer	DET	-360	325	77.40%	HOU 7-5
5/14/2013	HOU	DET	Lucas Harrell	Doug Fister	DET	-285	265	73.33%	DET 6-2
5/13/2013	HOU	DET	Bud Norris	Anibal Sanchez	DET	-275	257	72.68%	DET 7-2
4/30/2013	HOU	NYA	Phillip Humber	Hiroki Kuroda	NYA	-273	256	72.57%	NYA 7-4
4/27/2013	HOU	BOS	Brad Peacock	Felix Doubront	BOS	-265	250	72.03%	BOS 8-4
5/5/2013	DET	HOU	Justin Verlander	Phillip Humber	DET	-260	245	71.63%	DET 9-0
4/1/2013	MIA	WAS	Ricky Nolasco	Stephen Strasburg	WAS	-258	244	71.51%	WAS 2-0
4/3/2013	MIA	WAS	Kevin Slowey	Gio Gonzalez	WAS	-258	244	71.51%	WAS 3-0
4/25/2013	HOU	BOS	Phillip Humber	Clay Buchlz	BOS	-250	240	71.01%	BOS 7-2
4/30/2013	MIN	DET	Vance Worley	Justin Verlander	DET	-250	240	71.01%	DET 6-1

Dodgers vs Braves - May 17th Simulation Results

Marlins vs Dodgers - May 10th Simulation Results

Diamondbacks vs Dodgers - May 8th Simulation Results

Diamondbacks vs Dodgers - May 7th Simulation Results

Environmental Friendly Dodgers Busy Conserving Power

Normally conserving power is a good thing.  We all want cleaner air to breath, right?  Well, the 2013 version of the Los Angeles Dodgers - the same Dodgers that are highly paid if I remember my numbers correctly are doing their part in conserving power.  Their bats have been recycled and sent to wind farms in the Far East.  Their homerun trots have been outsourced to Cleveland and most notably their winning percentage is at a 52 week low.  So what's going on?  Heck if I (or Mark McGwire for that matter) know - but here are the numbers and they will make you feel green.

First let's look at the pathetic

Name	HR
Carl Crawford	5
Adrian Gonzalez	3
Andre Ethier	3
A.J. Ellis	2
Juan Uribe	2
Mark Ellis	2
Clayton Kershaw	1
Hanley Ramirez	1
Jerry Hairston	1
Justin Sellers	1
Matt Kemp	1

Yes, that is right. Matt Kemp only has one HR. Luckily, Carl Crawford has come out of his shell this season to lead the team with five homeruns. Perhaps Crawford shouldn't be hitting in front of the pitcher for the time being, no?

Well, how is the rest of the league doing? 22 homeruns is probably middle of the pack or something, don't you think? Hmmm, not quite.

More Leaderboards

Rank	Team	HR	Team	OBP	Team	SLG	Team	wOBA
1	Indians	44	Rockies	0.352	Indians	0.476	Rockies	0.356
2	Braves	44	Tigers	0.352	Rockies	0.471	Indians	0.352
3	Rockies	43	Red Sox	0.347	Red Sox	0.451	Red Sox	0.347
4	Blue Jays	41	Athletics	0.343	Yankees	0.433	Tigers	0.34
5	Yankees	40	Indians	0.34	Braves	0.429	Athletics	0.332
6	Orioles	39	Dodgers	0.333	Tigers	0.428	Yankees	0.33
7	Cubs	39	Reds	0.33	Brewers	0.427	Braves	0.328
8	Rays	37	Rangers	0.33	Orioles	0.425	Rangers	0.328
9	Red Sox	36	Yankees	0.328	Rangers	0.42	Brewers	0.324
10	Brewers	36	Braves	0.323	Athletics	0.413	Orioles	0.323
11	Rangers	36	Royals	0.323	Cubs	0.412	Rays	0.318
12	White Sox	36	Brewers	0.322	Diamondbacks	0.409	Diamondbacks	0.313
13	Diamondbacks	35	Orioles	0.322	Rays	0.407	Cardinals	0.312
14	Mariners	35	Cardinals	0.321	Angels	0.403	Angels	0.312
15	Pirates	34	Giants	0.32	Blue Jays	0.399	Royals	0.311
16	Athletics	33	Twins	0.32	Pirates	0.397	Giants	0.31
17	Mets	33	Rays	0.317	Mets	0.397	Reds	0.31
18	Angels	32	Angels	0.316	Astros	0.393	Pirates	0.308
19	Tigers	31	Diamondbacks	0.315	Giants	0.39	Dodgers	0.308
20	Nationals	30	Padres	0.314	Royals	0.39	Mets	0.308
21	Astros	30	Mets	0.309	Cardinals	0.39	Cubs	0.308
22	Reds	28	Mariners	0.308	Mariners	0.387	Mariners	0.306
23	Phillies	28	Pirates	0.307	Nationals	0.381	Blue Jays	0.306
24	Cardinals	27	Astros	0.305	White Sox	0.379	Astros	0.306
25	Giants	25	Cubs	0.301	Reds	0.378	Padres	0.305
26	Padres	25	Blue Jays	0.301	Padres	0.378	Twins	0.305
27	Dodgers	22	Phillies	0.298	Phillies	0.377	Nationals	0.294
28	Twins	21	Nationals	0.295	Twins	0.366	Phillies	0.294
29	Marlins	19	Marlins	0.29	Dodgers	0.363	White Sox	0.289
30	Royals	16	White Sox	0.283	Marlins	0.325	Marlins	0.273

Yeah, that's pretty ugly. 27th out of 30, 14th out of 15 (NL) in homeruns. Thank God for teams like the Marlins. In slugging percentage the Dodgers drop to 29th, once again with the Marlins cushioning the fall. Is there a silver lining you ask? Well, of course there is. Look at the Dodgers on base percentage. They are 6th! Good news, the offense isn't totally pathetic - just the part where we get runners past first base is. Dodgers management needs to put the breaks on this power conservation policy. Puig in a few more bats, oops did I incorrectly spell 'plug'? Silly me. Gas up the batting cages and turn this ship around.

Diamondbacks vs Dodgers - May 6th Simulation Results

Dodgers vs Giants - May 5th Simulation Results

Dodgers vs Giants - May 4th Simulation Results

Dodgers vs Giants - May 3rd Simulation Results