The talk has been going on for weeks. Don Mattingly will be fired as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. And that talk is gathering pace, so much in fact that this week may see the first managerial change in the 2013 major league baseball season.
After a series win over the Washington Nationals at home last week, there seemed to be new light. Zack Greinke was back in the starting rotation, and Matt Kemp was riding a 14-game hitting streak. Perhaps, perhaps, the $217 million Dodgers – the team with a 17-25 record and in last-place – could start winning ballgames consistently. But then they took a trip to Turner Field, and no surprise to most, got swept with the bullpen again doing the most negative damage to inflict more pain on Mattingly’s young skipper career.
The Dodgers got outscored 16-8 against the Braves over three games, and the bullpen gave up 12 of those. You do the maths.
Mattingly is usually supportive of his players in press conferences.
Mattingly goes by the name of “Donnie Ballgame” and is considered a legend by Yankee fans, a team he played for at first base for many years. But his quality on the bag doesn’t seem to be translating into the dugout, at least not in the Sunshine State.
One scout said: “He’s a laid-back manager with a laid-back veteran club. Great dude, but they need some energy. Some fire. Some change with that payroll. Not his fault, but you can’t fire 25 players.”
Indeed you can’t, and perhaps the scout is close to bang on here. Mattingly has always been praised by his players for showing support and positivity, but that was essentially wiped out after the Atlanta series when he bemoaned some of his players’ defensive production in the final game of the series.
Mattingly said: “We have to catch the ball, that’s all there is to it.”
He went on to say he had “an issue” with a bloop hit that landed between Kemp and Carl Crawford in the outfield, and said of a hard-hit ball that eluded third baseman Luis Cruz: “It was a rocket, but guys in the big leagues make that play all day long.”
‘All day long’ is a big suggestion that Mattingly is finally losing patience, or at least seeing the end of his tenure in some aspect. Usually managers can muster the strength to sound like they know how to turn a problem club around, or even put a plan into action. Aside from injuries though, Mattingly’s calls have been questionable.
A bad bullpen can create a bad manager and as the Dodgers took a 1-0 lead into the eighth inning yesterday, Mattingly brought in Kenley Jansen – who has been and is the most reliable arm in that pen’ – came in to secure what seemed to be a five-out save. Jansen gave up back-to-back home runs and the Braves rallied for a 3-1 win.
Some blame has to go upstairs to GM Ned Colletti too, who is responsible for some of the outlandish contracts laid out by the Dodgers this offseason. The signing of reliever Brandon League to a three-year , $22.5 million deal seemed ridiculous at the time and the decision to put him into the closer role even more outlandish considering his erratic pitching style and lack of over-powering stuff.
Jansen seems perfect for the closer role but LA hasn’t found a replacement since Jonathan Broxton’s departure.
While there isn’t an obvious replacement for Mattingly, or even an available one, the 52-year-old’s job is hanging by a thread. The aforementioned scout reckoned he would be gone by the beginning of the week, but perhaps it will be after their next road series at Milwaukee. The Dodgers have an off-day Thursday, then begin a five-game homestand against the Cardinals and Angels. Historically, managerial changes often occur on off-days before a homestand.
That day is Thursday. That’s four days. While Dodger fans will be thinking already that they’re running out of time to compete for a playoff spot – and as Magic Johnson re-iterated in pre-season that it was ‘World Series or bust’ for his team – Mattingly looks to be running out of time at an even greater pace.
