It didn’t take long for Dodger fans to realize that Dodgers right-hander Mat Latos didn’t have good stuff on Thursday night – just like the time before that; and the time before that… and so on. In fact, Latos hasn’t had good stuff since being acquired by the Dodgers from the Marlins just prior to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.

In his five starts as a Dodger, Latos is 0-2 with a 6.56 ERA. He has allowed 17 earned runs on 30 hits (including two home runs), walked six and struck out 16 in only 23.1 innings pitched. He has a WHIP of 1.54 and a ridiculous batting average against of .326

You would think that a guy who has basically stunk up the place since he arrived would be a bit humble after yet another poor outing, but then again, it is Mat Latos we’re talking about here – the same guy who has been a distraction everywhere he has played, especially in Cincinnati and Miami.

On Thursday night Latos allowed four runs on two doubles and five singles to the first 12 batters he faced. Every hit he gave up was absolutely scorched, which yet again indicated that he wasn’t fooling anybody. And though the Dodgers would miraculously overcome a 4-0 deficit and actually take a 7-4 lead in the top half of the sixth inning, it had nothing, absolutely nothing to do with Mat Latos, who Dodgers manager Don Mattingly mercifully removed after the fourth inning.

In his five starts with the Dodgers, Latos has made it into the sixth inning only once.
(Photo credit – Denis Poroy)

But here again, instead of being grateful that his teammates bailed him out by getting him a no-decision instead of yet another loss, the 27-year-old Alexandria, Virginia native took the low road and blamed others – in this case Mattingly – for his own shortcomings.

“Not being able to get deep in games, being on a quick leash, it’s hard to get into a rhythm whenever you get yanked real fast,” Latos told reporters after the Dodgers eventual 10-7 loss to the fourth place Padres.

Real fast? Are you kidding me? Heck, most managers in a pennant race with only 30 games remaining would have “yanked” Latos after he allowed his third run. But Mattingly stayed with Latos and even allowed him to bat for himself in the top of the third inning when, again, most managers would have pinch-hit for him (he grounded out weakly to short to lead off the inning).

One can only imaging that Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Farhan Zaidi do not agree with Latos’ delusional opinion of himself and, in all likelihood, are already trying to figure out a way to keep the ball out of his hand for the remainder of the season.

As my father often said to me when I was young: “Son, you missed a perfect opportunity to keep your mouth shut.”

Apparently Mat Latos was never given similar advice.