Tag Archives: Javy Guerra

Brandon League’s job is in jeopardy after the Dodgers’ sixth straight loss.

Posted on by
1
Paul Goldschmidt

Paul Goldschmidt’s home run off Brandon League in the ninth inning Tuesday makes him 9 for 20 with two homers against the Dodgers this season. (John McCoy/Staff Photographer)

You get the feeling that the Dodgers will have a new closer soon.

Tomorrow, perhaps.

Brandon League didn’t blow a save Tuesday, but he added another shaky performance to a long list of them in 2013. League allowed a pair of runs in the ninth inning, both on a Paul Goldschmidt home run that lifted the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 5-3 win at Dodger Stadium.

The Goldschmidt home run came on a belt-high sinker over the middle of the plate, the last of 11 pitches that included five foul balls after the count went full.

“My plan was to get Goldschmidt to ground into a double play,” League said. “That’s an example of what happens when you throw a good hitter a (feces-infused) pitch.”

Continue reading →

Postgame thoughts: Colorado Rockies 7, Dodgers 3.

Posted on by
Reply

This conference on the mound in the fourth inning didn’t help Josh Beckett (third from right). It merely delayed the inevitable in the Dodgers’ 7-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies, a game that lasted 3 hours, 54 minutes. (John McCoy/Staff Photographer)

You got the sense that Josh Beckett could live with the smaller strike zone imposed by home plate umpire Larry Vanover tonight. Beckett could even live with the three runs he allowed in the first inning, maybe because he didn’t want to throw his shortstop, Hanley Ramirez, under the bus for committing an error that left him pitching out of the stretch one batter into the game.

No, there were other things happened tonight specifically, and this season in general, that Beckett has not made peace with.

Continue reading →

Javy Guerra adds length to Dodgers’ bullpen.

Posted on by
Reply

Javy Guerra

It came as little surprise when the Dodgers recalled pitcher Javy Guerra from Triple-A Albuquerque on Tuesday.

Guerra was sent down late in spring training to pitch as a starter at Albuquerque. By his fourth start, he got stretched out to five innings and 75 pitches. The Dodgers needed a reliever who could pitch more than one inning after seeing Josh Wall — Albuquerque’s closer to begin the season — struggle in the long reliever role Monday.

Wall and Guerra swapped places Tuesday, and Guerra returned to a familiar building.

Well, mostly familiar. Once you walk down the tunnel leading into the home clubhouse area, things look a little different inside Dodger Stadium than they did last year.

“I got lost like three or four times,” Guerra said. “They told me ‘go to the weight room.’ It took me 10 minutes.”
Continue reading →

Suddenly, the Dodgers are out of long relievers.

Posted on by
Reply
Matt Guerrier

Matt Guerrier allowed two home runs in relief of Matt Magill on Saturday night, further depleting a short-handed Dodgers bullpen. (Associated Press photo)

For all the money the Dodgers have spent building their 2013 roster — about $230 million when the regular season began — they didn’t have a single pitcher available if last night’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers had gone to the 12th inning.

That’s not exactly unusual. If taxed enough, any bullpen will run out of arms. The Dodgers didn’t even get to the 10th inning yesterday, but manager Don Mattingly had to line up his possibilities when the Dodgers had runners on second and third base with two outs in the ninth inning.

“I’ve got to bring Josh (Wall) back out” for the 10th inning, Mattingly said. “I’ve got one (inning) with Kenley (Jansen). Then it’s Schu.”

Continue reading →

Interesting pitching matchup at Triple-A tonight.

Posted on by
Reply

Two members of the Dodgers’ 2011-12 relief corps, Josh Lindblom and Javy Guerrra, started against each other in a Triple-A game Friday night.

Lindblom allowed three runs in 6 2/3 innings for the Round Rock Express and won. The right-hander, now a member of the Texas Rangers’ organization, has been converted to a starter.

Guerra allowed four runs (two earned) in five innings for the Albuquerque Isotopes and was the ‘Topes pitcher of record in the 4-3 loss. The box score is here.

The Dodgers don’t plan to convert Guerra exclusively to a starter’s role. General manager Ned Colletti said via text message Friday that they’re stretching him out and having him throw four pitches to give the team the option of using him as a starter, long man, or short reliever.

Daily Distractions: Having some fun at the Pittsburgh Pirates’ expense.

Posted on by
Reply

Full disclosure: I picked the Pittsburgh Pirates to finish third, ahead of St. Louis and Chicago, in the National League Central this year. Can’t take it back. It happened.

One week later, I found myself using the quality of the Dodgers’ weekend opponent as some sort of asterisk in a game story after the Bucs were swept out of Dodger Stadium. That’s what happens when you can recite stats like these:

Six games into the season, NL pitchers are hitting .138/.180/.198. The Pirates are hitting .119/.188/.159.

— YCPB (@cantpredictball) April 8, 2013

Adding to the Pirates’ woes: One local paper can’t even spell the name of their star player correctly (h/t @whygavs):

AndrewxMcCutchenHappy Monday, Mr. McCutcheon. Onto the bullet points:

Continue reading →

Dodgers’ Javy Guerra on WBC opportunity: ‘It’s something I’ve always wanted to do.’

Posted on by
Reply

When Adrian Gonzalez was traded to the Dodgers last August, no one could have known what that would mean for reliever Javy Guerra.
Javy Guerra
Gonzalez asked Guerra if he would join Team Mexico on Saturday after reliever David Hernandez was ruled ineligible and switched teams, from Mexico to the United States. Guerra readily accepted after getting permission from Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” he said.

It’s something he might not have been able to do without Gonzalez, the team captain for Mexico.

Continue reading →

Javy Guerra tells Dodgers he’ll play for Mexico in WBC.

Posted on by
Reply

Javy Guerra

Dodgers right-hander Javy Guerra told the team on Saturday that he plans on playing for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic.

Once he’s added to the roster Guerra would join Dodgers teammates Luis Cruz and Adrian Gonzalez on the Mexican team. Cruz and Gonzalez are set to leave the Dodgers to begin training for the WBC tomorrow.

A curious chain reaction left an opening for a pitcher on Team Mexico. After Cleveland Indians closer Chris Perez left Team USA due to injury, Arizona Diamondbacks reliever David Hernandez switched from Team Mexico to the United States squad, having been ruled ineligible to pitch for Mexico.

Further, Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Yovani Gallardo was scratched from a spring start with a strained groin, potentially leaving Mexico without one of its best starters for the tournament.

Guerra will pitch his regularly scheduled inning tomorrow for the Dodgers against the Cleveland Indians according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, who first reported the news.

Guerra was born in Texas, the son of Mexican parents. He has never pitched in the World Baseball Classic before.