Tonight's lineup: Blake, Ethier return, Pierre stays, Kemp sits
Pierre drops to seventh because Torre said he didn't want to mess with the Martin-Ethier combo at the top. He also said Matt Kemp remains his primary CF and will play the next two games against Pirates lefties Zach Duke and Paul Maholm.
Martin, C
Ethier, RF
Ramirez, LF
Loney, 1B
Blake, 3B
DeWitt, 2B
Pierre, CF
Berroa, SS
Lowe, P
Classic Torre. Things are going so well and he overreacts to one good game from Pierre.
Those of us who look at the situation objectively, rather than with a blind and closed-minded antipathy toward a certain player, perceive that Torre also is considering Matt Kemp's HORRIBLE numbers for September:
43 at-bats
9 hits (eight singles, one double)
.209 batting average (74 points below his .285 season average)
.277 on-base percentage (67 points below his .334 season average)
.233 slugging percentage (slightly above HALF of his .450 season average)
.509 OPS (275 points below his .784 for the season)
I wouldn't worry that Pierre is replacing anyone, and it's certainly not an overreaction by Torre to a single good game. Kemp's clearly been slumping, and seems a bit confused at the plate lately. A day off will probably do him some good, and will be followed by the Dodgers facing lefties the next two days (Duke and Maholm). Kemp will be back in the lineup.
The difference is that Kemp is likely to return to his season averages in due time. He's hot and cold all year, why overreact now? Also, a .500 OPS isn't that far off from what Pierre has done on a regular basis anyway.
And he's hit the ball hard in Colorado and Pittsburgh, he's just hitting them right at people now. That's the way it goes in baseball.