Don Mattingly is nearing the end, and that's no bull

Warming up in the bullpen is the next manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Whether, or when, the reliever manager gets the call, remains to be seen, but it is in the bullpen that Don Mattingly has been having a miserable time this season.

The great Ken Rosenthal on Foxsports.com wrote yesterday, "Now I’m convinced that Mattingly is going to get fired. And the sooner it happens, the better."

The last-place Dodgers were swept over their weekend in Atlanta, getting outscored, 16-8. Their bullpen allowed 12 of the runs.

No group of relievers have lost as many games as the Dodgers in all of baseball.

	W	L	W-L%	ERA	SV	IP	WHIP
LAD	5	13	.278	4.61	11	127.0	1.449
HOU	3	10	.231	4.82	7	170.0	1.488
CHW	5	10	.333	3.99	14	119.2	1.412
TOR	8	9	.471	3.92	11	151.2	1.345
CIN	10	9	.526	3.76	11	124.1	1.198
MIL	6	8	.429	3.46	9	132.2	1.229
TBR	6	8	.429	4.49	9	116.1	1.324
MIA	4	8	.333	3.88	6	144.0	1.340
PHI	7	8	.467	4.47	8	114.2	1.465
DET	3	8	.273	3.91	8	131.1	1.294
NYM	7	7	.500	4.77	7	139.2	1.360
LAA	7	7	.500	4.47	9	149.0	1.369
SDP	5	7	.417	2.96	10	146.0	1.164
SFG	10	6	.625	2.91	14	133.0	1.323
ARI	10	6	.625	3.10	14	127.2	1.230
PIT	10	6	.625	2.81	18	157.0	1.127
BAL	9	6	.600	3.31	16	141.1	1.245
BOS	7	6	.538	3.98	10	129.0	1.364
COL	5	6	.455	3.04	10	154.0	1.195
CHC	6	6	.500	4.11	10	114.0	1.333
STL	3	6	.333	4.55	15	110.2	1.383
SEA	4	6	.400	3.85	11	128.2	1.205
KCR	6	6	.500	3.07	11	99.2	1.174
MIN	5	5	.500	3.24	9	144.2	1.251
ATL	8	3	.727	2.65	14	118.2	1.121
NYY	8	3	.727	3.41	18	129.1	1.206
WSN	5	3	.625	3.87	13	116.1	1.307
OAK	8	1	.889	2.88	9	146.2	1.173
TEX	9	1	.900	3.24	14	125.0	1.176
CLE	7	0	1.000	3.03	8	127.2	1.238

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/20/2013.

• As you can see, only the Mets and Astros bullpens have a worse ERA than the Dodgers
• As you can see, only the Phils and Astros bullpens have a worse WHIP than the Dodgers

Here are the individuals relievers who have provided little relief for LA

Rk	Player	GR	W	L	W-L%	SV	IP
1	Kenley Jansen	23	1	3	.250	2	22.1
2	Paco Rodriguez	22	0	2	.000	0	15.2
3	Ronald Belisario	21	2	4	.333	0	20.2
4	J.P. Howell	19	1	0	1.000	0	18.2
5	Matt Guerrier	18	1	1	.500	0	15.2
6	Brandon League	16	0	2	.000	9	16.1
7	Josh Wall	6	0	1	.000	0	7.0
8	Javy Guerra	5	0	0		0	7.0
9	Chris Capuano	2	1	2	.333	0	22.1
10	Skip Schumaker	1	0	0		0	1.0
11	Shawn Tolleson	1	0	0		0	0.0

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/20/2013.

Here are the stats that have caused the pain

	IP	GR	GF	SVOpp	SV	BSv	SV%	Hold	IR	IS	IS%
Ronald Belisario	20.2	21	3	1	0	1	0%	5	12	8	67%
Chris Capuano*	22.1	2	0	1	0	1	0%	0	1	1	100%
Javy Guerra	7.0	5	3	0	0	0		1	0	0
Matt Guerrier	15.2	18	2	1	0	1	0%	3	10	3	30%
J.P. Howell*	18.2	19	4	0	0	0		3	13	4	31%
Kenley Jansen	22.1	23	6	3	2	1	67%	9	6	1	17%
Brandon League	16.1	16	15	11	9	2	82%	0	2	2	100%
Paco Rodriguez*	15.2	22	2	2	0	2	0%	6	19	6	32%
Skip Schumaker	1.0	1	1	0	0	0		0	0	0
Shawn Tolleson	0.0	1	0	0	0	0		0	3	2	67%
Josh Wall	7.0	6	4	0	0	0		0	1	1	100%
League Average							66%				31%
Team Total		134	40	19	11	8	58%	27	67	28	42%

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/20/2013.

If Don Mattingly loses his job, those calls to the bullpen will have been a number of the nails in his coffin.

As Rosenthal wrote, "a bad bullpen can create a bad manager." Mattingly defended his relievers afterward, saying “Take it all as a group, not just the bullpen.”

It certainly feels as if both the Dodgers bullpen and Don Mattingly are worried about hearing that phone ring. The call at the other end seems to only mean trouble.

The Dodgers (and others) struggles with runners in scoring position

In today's Boston Globe, Nick Cafardo writes extensively about the Dodgers troubles hitting with runners in scoring position.

Cafardo points out that the Dodgers entered the weekend ranked fifth in batting average (.255), and second in on-base percentage (.330) in the NL, but 14th in slugging and 11th in OPS. With runners in scoring position, the Dodgers are hitting .213, 13th in the NL.

They’re also 12th in OBP, 15th in slugging, and 14th in OPS in the NL with runners in scoring position.

“The key for us is execution,” Dodger GM Ned Colletti told Cafardo. “We’re getting runners on base but we just can’t seem to get that one hit at the right time.”

The Dodgers are just one of the teams struggling when hitting with RISP.

The major league average for hitting w/RISP this season is .255.

Their American League neighbors, the Angels, are equally awful also hit .223. Then again neither of these two teams' fan base should be complaining as much as those who follow the residents of "the friendly confines." The Cubs are the only team in baseball hitting under .200 with runners in scoring position. And their Second City neighbors, the White Sox are only hitting .221.

The Marlins, Mariners, Jays and Diamondbacks are all under .220 in their miserable displays of hitting when it matters.

15 players whose career average with runners in scoring position fall below .255

(at least 2000 PA w/RISP)

Rk	I	Player	From	To	G	BA	PA	AB	H	RBI
1		Adam Dunn	2001	2013	1268	.222	2044	1542	342	607
2		Tom Brunansky	1981	1994	1232	.239	2023	1676	400	632
3		Dave Kingman	1971	1986	1302	.240	2066	1774	425	771
4		Royce Clayton	1991	2007	1374	.243	2133	1808	440	598
5		Lance Parrish	1977	1995	1396	.244	2244	1954	477	692
6	I	Jim Wynn	1963	1977	1334	.245	2201	1704	418	638
7		Bobby Grich	1970	1986	1368	.248	2169	1712	425	609
8		Andruw Jones	1996	2012	1585	.249	2632	2154	537	824
9		Darrell Porter	1971	1987	1238	.251	2000	1550	389	623
10		Graig Nettles	1968	1988	1781	.252	2689	2218	560	886
11		Chris Speier	1971	1989	1409	.252	2153	1745	439	576
12	I	Darrell Evans	1969	1989	1825	.253	2919	2242	568	895
13		Ron Gant	1987	2003	1285	.254	2040	1680	427	674
14	I	Bill Mazeroski	1956	1972	1354	.254	2113	1806	459	641
15		Benito Santiago	1986	2005	1339	.254	2125	1841	467	696

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/12/2013.

There are 121 batters who this season have to the plate at least 20 times with runners in scoring position who are hitting under .255, 56 of them are under .200.

Here are the 25 under .150

Rk	Player	BA	PA	AB	H	RBI
1	Eduardo Nunez	.000	24	16	0	4
2	Luis Cruz	.038	29	26	1	2
3	Dan Uggla	.050	26	20	1	4
4	Ryan Flaherty	.050	25	20	1	3
5	Darwin Barney	.063	23	16	1	1
6	Martin Prado	.063	37	32	2	4
7	Nolan Reimold	.067	22	15	1	4
8	B.J. Upton	.083	33	24	2	3
9	Rickie Weeks	.088	45	34	3	8
10	Nick Hundley	.091	27	22	2	7
11	Mike Moustakas	.091	30	22	2	4
12	Miguel Montero	.095	36	21	2	10
13	Alex Avila	.103	32	29	3	3
14	Josh Hamilton	.103	36	29	3	6
15	Mike Morse	.108	41	37	4	7
16	Chris Iannetta	.118	29	17	2	6
17	Eric Sogard	.125	28	24	3	3
18	Maicer Izturis	.130	25	23	3	3
19	Ike Davis	.133	36	30	4	6
20	Tyler Flowers	.136	23	22	3	8
21	Skip Schumaker	.136	27	22	3	4
22	Cliff Pennington	.136	30	22	3	8
23	Will Middlebrooks	.138	33	29	4	9
24	Justin Smoak	.148	35	27	4	5
25	Chris Parmelee	.148	31	27	4	5

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/12/2013.

The Dodgers individual batters with runners in scoring position.

Fans certainly can have no complaints with Adrian Gonzalez or Mark Ellis.

But Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier are very different stories.

Rk	Player	BA	PA	AB	H	RBI
1	Mark Ellis	.545	14	11	6	10
2	Adrian Gonzalez	.500	38	28	14	23
3	Juan Uribe	.273	17	11	3	4
4	Carl Crawford	.269	31	26	7	3
5	Nick Punto	.250	15	12	3	4
6	A.J. Ellis	.241	37	29	7	7
7	Justin Sellers	.231	15	13	3	1
8	Andre Ethier	.200	40	35	7	8
9	Matt Kemp	.171	44	35	6	11
10	Skip Schumaker	.136	27	22	3	4
11	Jerry Hairston	.071	16	14	1	3
12	Luis Cruz	.038	29	26	1	2

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/12/2013.

It appears, that even when the Dodgers recover from their injuries, if they don't recover their hitting stroke with runners in scoring position, this season will continue to be ugly.

Patient Crawford Setting Table for Dodgers

When the Los Angeles Dodgers took on the five years and $102 million left on Carl Crawford's contract last August, it was just the cost of doing business to get the player they really wanted: Adrian Gonzalez. The suddenly uber-wealthy Dodgers wanted a cornerstone first baseman. The Red Sox wanted salary relief. To put Gonzalez in Dodger blue, L.A. had to pay Crawford (injured and mostly ineffective the previous two seasons) a lot of green.

Someone forgot to tell Crawford he's a washed up rich guy, though. The 31-year-old is conjuring up memories of his pre-Boston, pre Tommy John glory days with the Tampa Bay Rays, batting .308/.388/.516 in 103 plate appearances. That's quite the improvement from the .260/.292/.419 triple-slash he put up in 2011-12. Crawford looks like a totally different man in 2013, laying off junk pitches he hacked at with Boston and working the count in his favor.

First, here is Crawford's swing rate by pitch location with Boston in 2011-12. He was especially jumpy versus chin-high pitches:

Crawford chased about 35% of pitches thrown outside of the strike zone, far above the 28% league average. His walk rate with the Sox was downright Francoeur-like: 3.9%. In fact, the only hitters who walked less often while convincing their managers to give them 600-plus plate appearances were Yuniesky Betancourt, Miguel Olivo and Delmon Young.

Now, check out Crawford's swing rate so far in 2013. He's no longer chasing chin music:

Crawford's chase rate is down to just 20% in 2013. With a far more patient approach, he has more than doubled his walk rate to 8.7%.

One-hundred great trips to the plate don't necessarily mean that Crawford will be worth his $20-plus million a year salary between now and 2017. That said, his newfound strike zone discipline has to encourage the Dodgers that they acquired a quality table-setter instead of a sunken cost.