Once again Chad Billingsley was solid through five innings (1 R, 1 H, 5 K, 2 BB) before faltering (referring to the three walks, not the lone run) in the sixth frame of tonight's loss to San Diego. Unfortunately that's been a recurring theme this season with Bills, as indicated by the following chart:
Split G PA AB R H BB SO SO/BB BA OBP OPS BAbip sOPS+
1st inning 31 126 112 14 32 8 22 2.75 .286 .323 .724 .333 90
2nd inning 31 126 114 11 27 10 24 2.40 .237 .304 .655 .284 77
3rd inning 30 119 103 9 21 12 29 2.42 .204 .293 .546 .284 49
4th inning 30 117 107 5 21 9 31 3.44 .196 .265 .583 .247 51
5th inning 29 111 94 10 15 15 35 2.33 .160 .273 .581 .211 53
6th inning 28 129 102 29 33 18 22 1.22 .324 .430 .949 .370 142
Note the large drop in K/BB, and the astronomical rise in every other stat including a horrendous slash line of .324/.430/.949. Simply put, that's never going to get it done. The trouble continued again tonight as Billingsley gave up a hit, which proved to be the eventual winning run, on the heels of three walks in the home half of the sixth inning. It was another almost for Billingsley, and for the Dodgers who failed to clinch the NL West for the third consecutive game. Don't give up the ship just yet, on the Dodgers or Chad Billingsley. There will be other chances for success in the near future for both of them.
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2 comments:
Chad earned his spot in the postseason rotation last night. All the Dodgers need from him is 5 innings and then they can hand it over to the bullpen. Typically, starters don't go very deep into the game during the playoffs unless they are dominating the opposing team.
Rotation: Wolf, Kuroda, Kershaw, Billingsley (Garland, Padilla are safety nets for a starter that just doesn't have it early in a postseason game)
I see we agree with our ideal playoff rotation.
The walks in the sixth were frustrating, as was the single following them, but anytime your pitcher allows only two runs through six innings he's kept you in the game.
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