Charlie Haeger Debuts Well, But The Dodgers Still Fall

I don't have much time today, but I wanted to say that I was highly impressed by Charlie Haeger. In the long run, it's important to remember that knuckleballers seem to have more ups and downs than normal starters, but if he can just remain league average as the fifth starter, he would be extremely valuable. Not only can he consistently work deep into games, but i'm willing to guess he could easily serve as the long man in extra inning contests. I just find their ability to pitch at any given time highly useful.

**********************************************************************************************************

-Why did Joe Torre bunt with Russell Martin again? How many times has bunting actually worked for this team this year? I can't think of a single time it has worked. God.

-So the Dodgers are down one run today, yet Torre uses the both Hong Chih Kuo and Jonathan Broxton? Uh, why?

**********************************************************************************************************

Dylan Hernandez has an update on Hiroki Kuroda.

Hiroki Kuroda has been ruled out for his start on Thursday, according to Manager Joe Torre.

Kuroda underwent a battery of tests that indicated he was recovering from the line drive he took on his head on Saturday in Arizona, but was sent home early and missed his previously scheduled bullpen session.

"That would all but eliminate that," Torre said of Kuroda taking his next turn in the rotation.

Trainer Stan Conte said that Kuroda continues to experience headaches from time to time and that his activities will be determined on a day-by-day basis.

Kuroda underwent an exam that tests brain function and it showed he had a mild concussion.

This is a much better response to concussion syndromes than the one Jerry Manuel took. The Dodgers need to be completely sure he's okay before running him out there again or he could be out for much longer than expected.