Editorials

Dodgers News: Mattingly Defends Use Of Hatcher In Tough Spot

Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

With the bases loaded and no outs in the top of the seventh inning on Wednesday evening at Dodger Stadium, the Los Angeles Dodgers turned to right-hander Chris Hatcher to protect their 4-2 lead.

Two batters later, the Miami Marlins were winning 5-4 and Hatcher was eventually lifted after loading the bases again on a walk after getting two outs. Pedro Baez came in and got a strikeout to limit the damage. Despite giving up two hits, a walk and three runs, Hatcher left the game with a lower ERA because the baserunners belonged to Carlos Frias and Adam Liberatore. Hatcher ended the day with a 6.55 ERA, and while he wasn’t charged with the loss, he was on the mound at the time.



While manager Don Mattingly was not making the decisions after being ejected for arguing over a review earlier in the game, he did defend the move to bring in Hatcher after the game via Bill Plunkett of the OC Register:

There’s all kinds of reasons (to go with Hatcher ahead of Baez). We look at matchups and things like that,” Mattingly said. “If I was in the dugout, I would have done the same thing. We thought that was a Hatch spot.”

Hatcher was acquired from Marlins in the offseason, along with Austin Barnes, Kiké Hernandez and Andrew Heaney (who was later traded for Howie Kendrick). The 30-year-old was expected to solidify the bullpen after having a strong season in Miami in 2014, ending with a 3.38 ERA in 52 appearances. When Kenley Jansen went down before the season, Hatcher was expected to be able to fill the void in the ninth inning until Jansen returned, but Hatcher struggled a bit to start the year.

The Dodgers will need the right-hander to improve in order to continue their winning ways.

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Dee Gordon Returns To Dodger Stadium For The First Time

Vincent Samperio

Vince is currently the Associate Editor and Social Media Manager for Dodgers Nation. Hailing from San Pedro, CA and a student at Cal State Long Beach, Vince has previously written for the Daily 49er and LASF Magazine.

4 Comments

  1. I hope he improves soon. I understand he hasn’t been the only one to falter. However, he seems to be the weakest link. He can throw hard, but his ball doesn’t move, and he doesn’t seem to know where it’s going.

    1. I don’t like Hatcher, but his peripherals show a dominant K/BB ratio, K/9, BB/9. He’s terrible in high leverage situations, but the talent is there. Ideally, they would just option his ass back to the minors, but he’s out of options and other teams will snatch him up if he’s DFA’d. It doesn’t matter how hard he throws if he only throws FBs.

  2. What the hell did Dee Gordon do to be traded for all this talent….less? Now rumors of trading Alex Guerrero because we finally got our “unproven” 30 year old Cuban phenomen…30 years old! The way Cubans lie about their ages. Who knows, maybe he’s 35?

    I wouldn’t doubt anything anymore. After all our number 3 starter NOW (end of May) is in need of surgery? WTF? Is the MRI machine working? Is their a doctor in the house?

    Holy crap. And how could anyone believe that this is year number two of no televised Dodgers games. Especially after Tragic Magic guaranteed a deal would get done. How is this team in 1st.? Oh, I know millions and millions of dollars. Dodgers even paying around $20 mill, $30 mill (I’ve already forgotten the ridiculous amount) for the privilege of having Matt Kemp play for a division rival. How are they in 1st. place?

    Billions and Billions obtained through a ridiculous T.V. contract that will never see resolve.

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