Karl??

[Baseball Guru]

Question??:confused:
Are the Dodgers toying with the idea of putting Shawn Green at 1B???
I went to the Dodger/Astros game (total joke by the way) and he played 1B....Never saw him play there before....

Also, didnt hear an update but Kevin Brown took a shot to the leg today and had to leave in the 3rd...He was getting pounded anyways.....Error of course did not help his cause...The Dodger infield was a disaster today:hmm:

[Baseball Guru]

Astros rough up Kevin Brown

By Ken Gurnick
MLB.com

KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Kevin Brown often looks and acts like the unhappiest Dodger, and Tuesday he even had a good reason.

Struggling to make Opening Day as he recovers from elbow surgery, Brown was roughed up by Houston Astros hitters Tuesday, then literally knocked out of the game in the third inning by a one-hop smash off Daryle Ward's bat that caromed off Brown's right knee and into the Dodger dugout for a ground-rule double.

The initial report was a contusion on the outside of the knee. Brown seemed to be walking fine out of the clubhouse and an X-ray later was negative.

Brown made 44 pitches (up from 27 in his previous start), was clocked at a high of 94 mph and averaged around 91 mph. The fact that he allowed eight runs (three earned) on six hits was pretty much dismissed by manager Jim Tracy, who lately has supported everything Brown has done on and off the field.

The Dodgers committed five errors, three by third baseman Phil Hiatt, and Tracy blamed the hard infield of Osceola County Stadium for at least two bad hops that led to some of the damage in a 12-0 exhibition whacking by the Houston Astros. The Dodgers were outhit, 16-2.
"The big guy pitched well enough to pitch five innings, but the ground was as hard as the turnpike we will drive back on," Tracy said. "With his sinker, balls were bouncing all over the place. Look way beyond the score. We go home feeling good. We go home with everybody intact."

As long as Brown has nothing worse than a bruise. He was just about at his pitch-count limit when Ward shot an 0-2 pitch back at him. Otherwise, forced to face extra hitters because of sloppy defense behind him, Brown fell behind too many hitters in this game and wasn't missing many bats. He failed to record a strikeout, notable because in his spring debut, he struck out six of the eight Astros batters he faced. The next day his elbow stiffened and in the two games since, he has struck out one of 22 batters.

"The quality of his pitches is good. The strength of his arm is good," said pitching coach Jim Colborn. "He needs to put a glove on his knee."

As for the hard infield, the Dodgers hit nine ground balls to Astros infielders, and they made no errors.

Prior to the game, Tracy said he was still planning on Brown as his Opening Day starter, even if Brown projected to last only five innings and put an immediate strain on the bullpen.

"Our bullpen will be very fresh and it's resilient," said Tracy, who said he will start the season with an 11-man pitching staff.

Tracy also said Hideo Nomo would follow Brown in the rotation because of the contrast in styles, Nomo's 7-2 lifetime record against the San Francisco Giants (the Dodgers' first opponent) and the likelihood of Nomo pitching deep into games following Brown, who figures to have the bullpen busy early if he starts.

After that, it could be Kazuhisa Ishii or Andy Ashby, Tracy wasn't saying. Ishii has not made a smooth transition to Major League training, so pitching coach Jim Colborn has instituted a new program emphasizing bullpen sessions instead of games.
Ishii, shelled by the Yankees Saturday, threw in the bullpen Tuesday and will again Wednesday, the back-to-back days of throwing running counter to Major League custom. He will skip his next start and probably pitch in only two more spring games, Colborn said.

Colborn said Ishii's recent problems have been as much psychological as physical.

"In our parlance, he's trying too hard," Colborn said. "Once we started working the count today, he got worse and worse. He's trying to be perfect to show he belongs here. All those things that are doubts, he's trying to get rid of them. Athletes are never satisfied and he fell victim to that instead of having confidence that he's pitched against world-class athletes."

Ashby pitched 3 2/3 innings of this game, allowing only one run but six hits with a walk and a strikeout. He has been critical of his pitching so far this spring, but not Tuesday.
"I was a lot better location-wise and had better rhythm," he said. "I was throwing pitches close to where I wanted to throw them. The last time, I didn't realize the count, I got lost thinking about whatever. This is something to build on."

Tracy said Ashby appears to be pitching more and thinking about his arm less. Ashby threw 52 pitches.

DODGERS NOTES: Odalis Perez threw five scoreless innings in a minor-league game, allowing three hits with four strikeouts and one walk. He is competing with Eric Gagne, Omar Daal and Terry Mulholland for the fifth starter spot.


Mark Grudzielanek, playing catch-up after a hamstring injury, led off every inning in a minor-league game.

Matt Herges, who has had his problems this spring, relieved Brown and was greeted by a three-run homer from Morgan Ensberg. He allowed three more hits that inning and was victimized by two errors, but was effective against the last four batters he faced.

Right fielder Shawn Green made his first start of the spring at first base. Tracy said there was nothing physically wrong with incumbent Eric Karros, but the intent was to prepare a replacement if Karros gets hurt, as he was much of last year. One possibility at first is Dante Bichette, signed initially to provide right-handed power off the bench. Tracy lined up his three remaining candidates (Bichette, Mark Whiten and Mike Kinkade) to pinch-hit against Houston closer Billy Wagner in the ninth inning, and it wasn't pretty. Bichette grounded to short, Whiten and Kinkade struck out. After going 3-for-8 in his first three games with two homers and a double, Bichette is 4-for-26 without another extra-base hit and 0-for-3 as a pinch-hitter. "I'm not convinced 100 percent he's on this ballclub," Tracy said of Bichette before the game. If Bichette is not on the team, Green could inherit the emergency first-base job. Of course, assuming he hits better than he has this spring. He went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and now is 3-for-29 with 11 whiffs.

More cuts were announced, none surprising. Infielders Joe Thurston and Jose Nunez were optioned to Triple-A. Pitchers Mike Johnson, Dennis Springer and Todd Williams were re-assigned. Among the minor leaguers cut was Glenn Davis, who is added to the list of failed Dodger first-round picks. A first baseman taken out of Vanderbilt in 1997, he peaked last year at Double-A Jacksonville with 20 home runs and 89 RBIs but 142 strikeouts. The future at first base for the Dodgers is Taiwan's Chin-Feng Chen, making rapid progress in his conversion this spring from the outfield.

[KingFish]

Shawns tendinitus was the cause. No big rifle shots from the OF for him and playing 1B let him get some needed AB's as he hasn't come around yet at the plate.

[Baseball Guru]

Ok, didn't look much into it....Just thought it was strange going to a game and seeing him start at 1B:uhoh: :biggrin: