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Pastimes : Dodgers Fan Club -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jon Khymn who wrote (34)	8/6/2001 12:48:07 AM
From: Jon Khymn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 94

Dodgers Team Report By Brian Dohn/Los Angeles Daily News Tracy to keep battery of Park-Kreuter going August 5, 2001 Print it Speak out! Dodgers message board Despite continued offense woes when righthander Chan Ho Park is on the mound, there will be no switch of catchers. Manager Jim Tracy said he hasn't even given thought to sitting Park's personal catcher, Chad Kreuter, in favor of offensive sparkplug Paul Lo Duca. Tracy doesn't want to mess with the chemistry and trust Park and Kreuter have developed over the past 1 1/2 seasons because he doesn't want to change Park's psyche, or even alter it. However, run support continues to be an enormous problem. The Dodgers have scored 100 runs in Parks 24 starts (a 4.17 average) and they're averaging five runs in the rest of their games. Even though it seems like a natural fit to get Lo Duca into the lineup to help spur the offense -- Lo Duca is batting .334 with 17 homers and 53 RBIs despite missing a month of the season with injuries -- there are too many pitfalls. Park is 11-7 and his 2.83 ERA is fourth best in the National League, and the communication and trust between Park and Kreuter is the biggest reason. Tracy experimented in spring training with having Park throw to Lo Duca, and it resulted in nine earned runs and 11 hits in four innings. . . . The club’s decision to trade for veteran lefty Terry Mulholland was multi-faceted. He's been in playoff races and the playoffs, he can adapt to new cities easily, as witnessed by how many times he's been traded, his arm bounces back quickly so he can be used four times in five nights against all the lefthanded hitters in the National League West in the last month of the season. But there's also another reason -- he can start against some of those N.L. West teams if the Dodgers so choose. Between now and the end of the month the Dodgers need to build Muholland's arm strength back. Before being acquired, he last pitched in a big league game June 8 because of a broken finger. He pitched 2 1/3 innings in rehab stints before being traded. . . . Adrian Beltre is batting .249 with 40 RBIs, a far cry from his .280 average, 20 homers and 85 RBIs of a year ago, but he's very optimistic things are finally going his way. Many scouts thought this season would be a wash for Beltre because he went through so much. Before the season began he underwent two abdominal surgeries and lost 30 pounds, then missed the first six weeks of the season recuperating. However, he's gained 29 pounds back and is at 214. He feels strong even when he plays day games after night games and, after not swinging a bat for seven months, his timing is coming back and his eye for recognizing pitches is improving. SCOUTING REPORT Not only is James Baldwin been a success in his two starts, allowing a combined three runs in 16 innings and going 1-0, but he’s already added to clubhouse chemistry and was instrumental in the series against the Cubs. Though Baldwin pitched in the American League with the Chicago White Sox, interleague play meant the two sides met six times this season. The Dodgers' only knowledge of the Cubs was a three-game series in May. So Baldwin took some time and spoke before the series about the Cubs, giving pitching coach Jim Colborn and starters Chan Ho Park and Eric Gagne, both of whom started in the series, his scouting report on the Cubs. Baldwin also talked with catchers Paul Lo Duca and Chad Kreuter about strengths and weaknesses of each hitter. Baldwin, an astute pitcher, also spoke of tendencies at different junctures of the at-bat. And Baldwin also delivered in his chance. After allowing four hits in eight innings in his first start as a Dodger, he ended a five-game losing streak by yielding four hits and one run against the Cubs in his second start. SEE A DIFFERENT GAME First baseman Eric Karros' motto is if he's in the starting lineup, he's healthy. So don't talk about injuries. However, he's batting .241 and has 10 homers and 45 RBIs. He missed three weeks in May and June because of a torn ligament in his lumbar, but won't use that as an excuse. Still, his back may not be as fine as he's indicated. At least, it likely wasn't for a lot longer than he was on the disabled list. Karros is a notoriously hard worker, taking extra batting practice in the cages underneath stadiums daily. Heck, on the next-to-last day of the 1999 season, with the Dodgers hopelessly floundering toward an awful finish, he was taking extra hitting hours before the game. That kind of work ethic made him a perrenial 30-homer, 100 RBI player. Yet, it wasn't until two weeks ago that Karros was healthy enough to take extra hitting before games. He said he feels fine physically, but playing in pain and missing time launched him into bad habits as he tried to compensate for the pain. He's now trying to work out of such problems. INJURY REPORT Centerfielder Tom Goodwin (pulled right hamstring) is on the 15-day disabled list and has progressed lately. He was eligible to come off Sunday, but he could still be a week away. Righthanders Andy Ashby (right elbow) Darren Dreifort (right elbow) are out for the season. Ashby underwent surgery to repair the flexor muscle in his pitching elbow. Dreifort underwent reconstructive elbow surgery Tuesday and is lost until after the 2002 All-Star break. Infielder Tim Bogar (right foot) is hoping for a Sept. 1 return.