Dodgers’ Problems Leave in a Hough?

Question: If the rotation isn’t pitching up to capability and you turn Charlie Hough into a scapegoat after only 44 games, who goes after 88 if there is no improvement?

Claude Osteen, the new pitching coach?

Kevin Malone, the general manager?

Davey Johnson, the manager?

The Dodgers did some new math Wednesday. They added $80 million, their payroll, and 22-22, their disappointing record before their game at Cincinnati. The sum of their thinking represented panic, a view disputed by Malone and Johnson.

In firing Hough, the pitching coach, they said you don’t wait to fix a leaking faucet.

They said that aside from Kevin Brown, a touted rotation had failed to perform to expectations and, in fact, was regressing.

“We know that Charlie doesn’t pitch or catch,” Malone said. “We know that we’ve had some well-pitched games in which the offense didn’t score enough runs, but the bottom line with this team is that the starting pitching sets a tone, and collectively it was not pitching to its capability.

“We have three guys [Brown, Chan Ho Park and Ismael Valdes] who are as good as anybody in baseball, but we’re underachieving.

“I mean, it’s fair to ask if Charlie is being made a scapegoat, but why wait longer if you feel that you can make an adjustment now that will make the team better? We’re trying to be proactive.”

Semantics aside, what Malone and Johnson were saying was they didn’t think Hough was providing the starters with viable game plans and wasn’t helping them adjust the plan as the game proceeded.

“You can’t let the pitcher go with his weaknesses against a hitter’s strength,” Johnson said, speaking generally.

“You try to balance the strength of your pitcher in creating a game plan. There are a lot of factors involved.”

From Johnson’s perspective, too many signs were being shaken off and too often his pitchers were going with the wrong pitch at the wrong time. “The pitcher and catcher have to be on the same page, and that has to be tightened up,” he said.

Who can argue?

Battery mates have to be on the same page, but if Hough wasn’t providing strategic support to his pitchers, wasn’t he the very guy that Malone and Johnson rehired over Osteen this season after interim general manager Tom Lasorda fired Glenn Gregson last June and urged Hough to leave San Bernardino, where he was happy and comfortable working with the Class-A pitchers?

If his game plans weren’t what they should be, what did he leave out? How Valdes could cure the blister that has affected his movement and staying power? How Darren Dreifort could kick those shin splints? What Park could take to clear his head after management kept messing with it by allowing contract talks to reach an on-and-off point of distraction?

Did Hough’s plans include trading for a catcher with a surgically repaired elbow whose inability to throw weighs on pitchers to the point of rushing their deliveries with runners on base? Did his plans call for the $15.5-million signing of the erratic Carlos Perez at a time when Perez was coming off a 4-1 September that significantly raised his trade value when the $15.5 million could have been used to retain gamer Brian Bohanon as a starter, Dave Mlicki as insurance and Scott Radinsky as a proven left-handed reliever?

Was it Hough’s plan that failed to provide insurance if Antonio Osuna’s elbow required surgery, leaving a bullpen that includes the recycled Mike Maddux and Doug Bochtler and two rookies, Onan Masaoka and Jamie Arnold, who may be over their heads? Was it his plan to put pressure on the pitchers by only marginally improving an offense that was 12th in the league in runs and a defense that was 13th?

Game plans? Charlie Hough has spent 33 years in the game. He knows it and how to relate it.

Even Malone acknowledged that there has never been a problem with the personable Hough’s relationships. The nervous Dodgers simply needed a scapegoat, and he was sacrificed on the altar of ERA--Embellished Rationale Average.

Pitch Out

Dodger earned-run averages for starting rotation and bullpen with overall rank in the National League (through Tuesday):

Starters: 4.19 (4)

Bullpen: 5.08 (14)

Overall: 4.47 (6)

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

The Wrong Stuff?

The Dodgers fired pitching coach Charlie Hough on Wednesday after their pitching struggled through the first 44 games. A look at how the Dodger pitchers have performed in earned-run average in the ‘90s, with overall rank in the National League in parentheses (* Won wild card) :

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Year Starters Bullpen Overall Place 1999 4.19 (4) 5.08 (14) 4.47 (6) -- 1998 3.78 (5) 3.88 (8) 3.81 (5) 3rd 1997 3.73 (3) 3.38 (1) 3.62 (2) 2nd 1996 3.51 (2) 3.35 (2) 3.46 (1) *2nd 1995 3.45 (2) 4.19 (8) 3.66 (2) 1st 1994 4.00 (4) 4.69 (12) 4.17 (9) 1st 1993 3.55 (3) 3.38 (2) 3.50 (3) 4th 1992 3.35 (5) 3.56 (7) 3.41 (6) 6th 1991 3.06 (1) 3.08 (1) 3.06 (1) 2nd 1990 3.92 (8) 3.32 (5) 3.72 (5) 2nd

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