MLB Season Preview: LA Dodgers

LA Dodgers


Last Season's Standing: The LA Dodgers grabbed the Wild Card Spot last season, going 88-74 in the regular season, including 9-1 in their last ten games. Unfortunately, they lost in the NLDS in a sweep to the NY Mets.

In: SS/1B Nomar Garciaparra; LF Luis Gonzalez (prev. team: Arizona Diamondbacks); C Ken Huckaby (prev. team: Boston Red Sox); C Mike Lieberthal (prev. team: Philadelphia Phillies); 2B Ramon Martinez; CF Juan Pierre (prev. team: Chicago Cubs); SP Jason Schmidt (prev. team: SF Giants); RP Travis Smith (prev. team: Atlanta Braves); SP Randy Wolf (prev. team: Philadelphia Phillies)

Out: RF J.D. Drew (new team: Boston Red Sox); RP Eric Gagne (new team: Texas Rangers); C Toby Hall (new team: Chicago White Sox); CF Kenny Lofton (new team: Texas Rangers); SP Greg Maddux (new team: San Diego Padres)

Starting Pitching: The LA Dodgers allowed one aging former star in Greg Maddux walk and brought in 33 year old Jason Schmidt. Although not as consistent as Maddux is, he gets the job done. Schmidt needs to get into the 7th a bit more consistently and will need to keep his pitch count down early by issuing fewer walks. He's a solid ace. Derek Lowe should follow Schmidt to form a formidble 1-2 punch. Lowe needs to get back to 2002 when he won 21 games. Players love pounding his first pitch and he needs to keep runners off the bases, as he simply can't hold them. However Lowe is a great ground ball pitcher. Penny needs to provide at least six solid innings of work, which he has trouble with. He needs to equal or exceed his 16-9 record from last season. Penny is pretty inconsistent and is typically a .500 pitcher for his career. Lefty Randy Wolf will be looking to prove that his elbow problems of 2 seasons ago is behind him. He was a perfect 4-0 in 12 starts last season. The Dodgers should be wary of his second half troubles with wearing down. Also, late in games is where he starts to lapse. Sophomore Chad Billingsley will be looking to avoid a sophomore slump and continue his successful rookie campaign in his sophomore season. Billingsley was an impressive 7-4 with a 3.80 ERA last season. Mind you, bloggers, Dodger Stadium is known to be a pitchers ball park with deep outfield walls.

Bullpen: The bullpen of the Dodgers is whre things could get interesting. The Dodgers will start the season with a brand new closer, as the injury-riddled Eric Gagne has departed to Texas. In his place, at least to start, is slated to be 2nd year Japanese import Takashi Saito. He went 6-2 with 24 saves and a solid 2.07 ERA in his inaugural MLB Season. The challenge will be repeating that performance. Setup man Yhency Brazoban is recovering from Tommy John surgery and likely won't be ready for spring training. How much the Dodgers can count on him remains to be seen. In his absence, lefty Joe Beimel is an option. He went 2-1 in 62 appearances last season with a decent 2.96 ERA. He tends to be a pretty mediocre southpaw. Look for Jonathon Broxton to be a setup man from the right side until Brazoban proves he's game-ready. Middle reliever Elmer Dessens will be looking to improve upon his 5-8 record, 4.85 ERA. Success against lefties are a trouble spot for this rightie; can struggle to find the strike zone, leading to more hittable pitches. Brett Tomko has been penciled in as a long-reliever/spot starter; he was 8-7 with a 4.73 ERA last season. Eric Stults will likely start the year in Las Vegas to gain more experience and get called up in case of injury. Tim Hamulak was mediocre in his appearances going 0-3 with an inflated 6.35 ERA in 33 appearances. Hong-Chih Kuo should start the year in the Dodgers 'pen as a long reliever, however he needs to show management that he can perform consistently at a high level. He was 1-5 with a 4.22 ERA in '06. Finally southpaw Mark Hendrickson, the former basketball player-turned baseball pitcher. Hendrickson is by no means overpowering and needs command of his pitches to be successful. He'll be battling Kuo for the final spot in the Dodger's bullpen. The loser will start the year in Las Vegas.

Catcher: Canadian Russell Martin certainly took full advantage of the opportunity to play evvery day in his first full season. In fact, he was so good that the Dodgers traded away their #1 from last season in Dioner Navarro to Tampa Bay. Martin will have some competition heading into Spring Training as the Dodgers signed former Phillies Catcher Mike Lieberthal to a contract to provide some friendly competition at the position. He is aging but will definitely get the opportunity to grab the #1 job. Both catchers handle pitchers well. Look for the job to be split between the catchers, with the younger Martin getting slightly more games. Martin will hit 7 or 8 in the line-up.

First Baseman: The last few seasons have been injury-riddled for former all-star Nomar Garciaparra. He's at first base to hopefully prevent injuries in the field. As long as he's healthy, Garciaparra will play anywhere from 100-120 games this season. He should hit 3rd in the Dodgers lineup. Aging veteran Jeff Kent will play likely around 15-20 games at first base. He's also coming off a tough year injury wise and will be looking to stay healthy as well as avoid his mid-season slump at the plate. Olmedo Seanz should stand a good chance of cracking the Dodger's roster as a back-up to Garciaparra, but the bulk of his playing time will be pinch-hitting. Rookie James Loney will be considered but I would expect him to start the year in Las Vegas.

Second Baseman: Kent will get the bulk of his playing time at second base. Backing him up will be utility infielder Ramon Martinez, who should get the bulk of his playing time at second. He's fantastic in the field, but needs to work on his at-bats against power pitchers. Another utility infielder who should see time at second is Marlon Anderson. He'll likely be seen more in left field where It's less likely for him to goof up a routine play. Too aggressive at the plate. Look for Kent to hit 6th in the lineup.

Shortstop: Speedster Rafael Furcal controls this position. Furcal puts the "every" in every day player. He only took three games off last season. He's a workhorse but he commits a lot of errors, possibly because of being overworked. Expect him to lead off and play around 150 games next season. Martinez will play at shortstop when Furcal is getting a rest or if he's injured. Should Furcal suffer a long-term injury early in the season, Wilson Betemit can play SS.

Third Baseman: Betemit will receive the bulk of the starts at third base. He'll play between 135 and 145 games next season and bat 7th in the line-up. Like Furcal, Betemit has his share of follies in the field and needs to cut down on the errors to be successful. Seanz will like back-up Betemit most days.

Left Fielder. Former World Series hero Luis Gonzalez has signed on with the Dodgers for another season and is a workhorse like Furcal, sitting just 9 games all of last season. He won't have to play as much this season as the Dodgers are deep in the outfield. His arm strength has waned with age but he's still effective with the bat and should hit clean-up for the Dodgers. Sophomore Andre Ethier will have a reduced role with the signing of Gonzalez and should get around 85-90 games this season. Third year player Jason Repko is coming off a broken ankle and will likely back-up Andre Ethier in right field primarily. Second year player Matt Kemp will be fighting for the fourth outfielder position but is likely to start the year in Las Vegas. Another player who will get a look is rookie Delwyn Young, but the Dodgers will be mainly looking to see how he has developed. Finally, when he's not playing second base or pinch hitting, Marlon Anderson may also get a game or two or perhaps a few more in left field. His defensive apprehensivenes may keep him to primarily pinch hitting duties.

Center Fielder: Another speedster in Juan Pierre will be starting in Center Field and batting 2nd. Pierre is just about incapable of hitting more than singles or doubles. Any homer is a fluke. However, his speed will keep pitchers off their game when he's on the bases. Ethier, Kemp and/or Young will play backup.

Right Fielder. Ethier is penciled in as the Dodgers right fielder and should bat 7th. Ethier will be looking to repeat his successful rookie campaign, where he hit .308 and committed just 6 errors in the field. Backing him up will be a combination of Repko, Kemp, and/or Young.

Season Prediction: I expect this to be a very trying year for manager Grady little, especially when it comes to watching his team in the field. The bullpen is young and the hitters are a mix of veterans and slap hitters who will have their moments trying to score. This team will finish 4th in the tight NL West.