[PilotMan]

May Recap


LA went 14-10 in May, one of our worst months in a long while. Going 4 games above .500 isn't a failure though. It may be good enough to win the division right if we can keep that up. As it stands right now, after 2 months, LA is tied for first place with the Reds, with a 26-20 record. That's pretty far from where we were last year at this time. The Expos are riding high with the best record in the NL with a 31-16 record. The White Sox lead all of baseball with a 30-14 record. The World Champion Blue Jays are also in first in the East at 27-19.


So we have some problems. Injuries are piling up and it's causing some problems. We've got depth, and that's helped. We've got depth in the rotation....but. We're used to leading the league in pitching. Thanks to the bullpen we're 3^rd. It's the starters, 6^th, that aren't performing up to par, and losing Eck for the season blows. LA is 3^rd in runs allowed and our defense is 4^th in the NL.


Speaking of defense, having Frank White at third, and losing Dwayne Murphy in center is bringing us down. Mike Scioscia has become a wrecking ball behind the plate. He's cutting down 46.2% of base stealers.


But let's get to the real issues with this team right now, and that's the offense. LA is 7^th in the NL in average. That's a far, far cry from being the #2 offensive team last year. Those rankings just roll right down, OBP, SLG, (both 6^th), runs scored (5^th), home runs (4^th). We are worst in the NL in steals, with 13 team steals.


Sid Bream is leading the team in avg, batting .304, followed by Evans and Scioscia, .280 and .272 respectively. Evans' 6 home runs lead the team. As does his 32 RBI's. Here's the most depressing thing about our power numbers. If we look at the league leaders in homers, it's Bob Brenly (SD) AND Ron Cey (PIT) leading the league with 11. Over in the AL, Greg Brock (CLE) is 5^th with 10. Someone has to break out for us, or we're just going to waste away.


Here's another thing to think about. Looking back on the Ron Kittle deal a couple years ago, that sent away Mariano Duncan and Ted Power? Well, Kittle has 336 AB and 19 HR while playing for LA, since 1983. Duncan has broken through to start at short for the White Sox, has 400 AB, and 5 HR, along with 39 SB's. Ted Power finished 3^rd for Reliver of the Year last year and is the closer for the Reds. He's 11-6 with 39 saves since the trade in 104 IP. I'm starting to think that maybe this trade won't go down as a good one, just judging from the lack of playing time for the slugger.

None of that is going to put the ball in play. We have starters that just aren't pulling the load.


Starting with Frank White. He's hitting .175 and the hot corner is more than he can handle. Next, Mike Marshall. His .652 OPS and 5 HR are projecting to an 18 HR season. His defense is ok, but not worth that. If Bream wasn't playing so well, you could make an argument to move him to first and start Kittle in left. Roy Smalley is hitting .199 with an OPS of .575. Only 3 more years of that mil+/year contract. Graig Nettles, who was supposed to bring his old self and power? Just looks old now. He's hurt, has 3 HR, a .192 avg and .596 OPS. It goes on and on down the list. Players who we need to make an impact and who are failing mightily.


Our best players have been the standard, Scioscia (defensively he's a stud), Randolph (hurt now, but still drives the O), and Evans (playing ok, but we really need more from him like last year. A 9 HR drop in production won't get us to the promised land, nor will a team whose power hitter leads with 21 go far.


No panicking yet. We're tied for first and that's with our best players playing somewhat poorly. June is going to see the return of a few players, if they can get healthy. We need to try and stay optimistic, but it's clear that this team isn't going to run away and hide like we did last year.