Ryan Theriot's shrinking play can't be making the Dodgers feel good about second base next season

Ryan Theriot, please come back. All is forgiven. Or if it’s the team that did something, forgive them. Whatever, just come back.

Back to the player you were when you first showed up at Dodger Stadium. You know, the guy who batted .309 in August, with 18 runs and six extra-base hits.

As opposed to the player who has completely disappeared offensively.

In Theriot’s last 60 at-bats, he’s hitting an even .100 with 11 strikeouts. And without a single extra-base hit or RBI.

Whatever’s below the Mendoza Line, Theriot is about to cross it. Beware the great unknown.

Defensively he’s been outstanding, and certainly an upgrade over Blake DeWitt, the player the Dodgers exchanged for him. DeWitt, by the way, has hit only .167 in September.

But Theriot’s play down the stretch has to be a concern to the Dodgers. He’s arbitration eligible and not going anywhere. He is, in theory, their starting second baseman next year.

Jamey Carroll, of course, has been splitting time lately with Theriot at second and has been outplaying him. But Carroll’s value is in his versatility. Plus, he’ll be 37 at the start of next season.

It’s not that Theriot is a kid (he’ll be 31 in December), but he’s supposed to be an everyday player. And he was a career .288 hitter coming into this season and batting .284 with the Cubs this year before the trade.

That’s a long way from batting .100. It’s a long way from making the Dodgers feel good about second base heading into the winter.

-- Steve Dilbeck

Photo: Dodgers second baseman Ryan Theriot turns a double play with San Diego's Adrian Gonzalez sliding toward him. Credit: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Garrett]

Theriot's likely hurt somewhere. That's usually the explanation for this kind of disappearing act, offensively, from a vet. I've not heard a thing--just a thought.

[Zen]

The Dodgers embody every insult leveled against Hollywood and the flaky West Coast.

Beneath the tinsel is more tinsel. There's no work ethic out here. People get a whiff of celebrity and they buckle at the knees. Marriages never last. Everybody needs or has a psychiatrist.

[Hollywood Dodger Mark]

Orlando Hudson is going to the post season.

[Stan]

Did Theriot catch the Torre fever after his first month with the Dodgers?

Can I dare say that Bud Black is a better manager than Torre when the Padres were supposed to sweep out the basement this year. Alas, this cannot be true, because we all know, the Padres have more talent than the Dodgers.

[Jules N Binoculars]

>because we all know, the Padres have more talent than the Dodgers.

AND money. As we can tell from all the LA fans bitching about mgmt not spending enough, all we need is a bigger budget and we can win the west! Oh wait, we already have the biggest budget in the west.

[Steve Dilbeck]

Jules: Actually, the Giants had the biggest payroll in the NL West going into the season, edging the Dodgers by about $3 million. And that's before they added payroll and the Dodgers dumped Manny Ramirez and saved $3.8 mil.

[OldBrooklynFan]

Nobody liked this trade off. Sending DeWitt away and taking in Theriot. Actually to put it best many of us couldn't understand it. Maybe it's a punishment.

[bluenose dodger]

Why are we surprised by Theriot? We had to take him to get Ted Lilly. And, a three year deal with Lilly would be the usual ne year too long.

[KidKuo]

We should give Hu a chance to start at either 2B/SS next year. We need to give farm system prospects a chance to succeed, instead of recruiting hired guns that have failed us again and again.

[wmm]

Do the Dodgers have a hitting coach?

[WorstHire]

just more evidence of the "wonderful" help & influence of Theriot's "new" hitting coach, & the soon-to-be-mgr, "donnie-beezeball"...

such an incompetent ID10t, "donnie-boi" has ridden cronyism to a nice/handsome promotion, meanwhile once-fine hitters (i.e., Theriot) go "south" under his watch.....

better get used to this, as plenty of lean yrs ahead, so long as torre's lap-dawg (i.e., donnie-boi) manages the "dawgs"

[rickNelson]

Since when has "arbitration eligible" meant a player is definitely in the Dodgers' plans? The Dodgers have dumped excellent players like Randy Wolfe and received nothing in return for fear of an "excessive" arbitration award. Theriot either signs with the Dodgers before arbitration or he's gone; everyone knows that arbitration awards are not based on a half season performance and quality second baseman who has hit .280 in recent years will be out of the Dodgers' arbitration risk zone. Look for another journeyman risk for that position next year; after all, until the Dodgers commit the resources to rebuild a depleted team into a championship team what's the point of overpaying anyone other than a star player projected to maintain his ability for at least 4 years?

[rickNelson]

Hey Sabremetrics experts: has anyone ever developed any proof one way or the other about whether a hitting coach makes any difference? Really, the manager should dictate hitting tactics every game -- e.g., take pitches, work the count etc., so a hitting coach is there presumably to work on a players' stroke. It's unchallenged that it works in tennis and golf -- but then again all of those coaches are selected and paid by the players so they actually do what the coach says. I just question whether there is any correlation between a major league team's batting performane and a batting coach's skill level. Obviously, there are good coaches; I just question whether it makes any difference unless the players seriously work with and follow the coach's instructions. And if Joe Torre is a hall of fame manager, shouldn't his skill set include selecting the top coaches, meaning that Don Mattingly is a great hitting coach? You'd think so, unless Torre knows that the hitting coach doesn't much affect a team's hitting.

[Mike M]

60 major league at bats is nothing.....slumps happen, even in the extended fashion that Theriot is facing right now. Who knows....he could have an injury that he's keeping quiet. Use that .288 lifetime average and .284 pre-Dodger average of this year to judge the guy. He's an average major league infielder, with below average power, a normally good contact hitter with good speed on the bases. If that fits the profile of what LA wants out of their second basemen, then keep him. If it doesn't, then don't. It's simple.

[Booby Janks]

You are no name noboby commenting about a sport in which Im guessing you didnt play past high school...and were never very good. Baseball is a game of cycles. He is a steady player. You are a moron.