Curb Your Enthusiasm...

Hate to sound negative, but the Dodgers winning 2 out of 3 in Denver against the lowly Rockies did nothing to encourage me. James McDonald looked barely passable in his victory. One bright spot was that Ramon Trancos-oh no! actually seemed poised and pitched effectively. But Manny shoulda' hit 3 homers and he didn't. Martin shoulda' found some semblance of a power stroke and he didn't. I mean, what else is Coors Field is for? But the thing that I found most disturbing was young Clayton Kershaw's second consecutive horrific outing. He looked terrible! In 3 out of his 4 starts, in this early stage of the season, he has thrown way too many pitches, walked way too many guys and, with the exception of his 13 K game against the Giants at home, he doesn't seem to have an out pitch. Guys just keep fouling balls off against him until they either walk or get a hit. He looks nervous, unsure, and tentative. In other words, he looks like he's 21. Problem is, they need him to be so much more advanced in order to have a serious shot at winning anything. Because, let's face it. He's the guy with the talent. They know what they're not gonna get from Wolf and McDonald is further behind than Kershaw. Stults is likely just a band-aid until Kuroda gets back and, based on how he's progressing, who knows when that'll be? The bottom line is, THIS TEAM NEEDS TO GET AT LEAST ONE TOP FLIGHT STARTER OR THEY WILL NOT WIN A PENNANT. Hell, they may not even win the weak West. In addition, they're showing themselves to be not a very good road team and, besides Houston and a slumping Arizona, they've yet to play anyone with an offense.

I know it was cold and windy, but last night's loss to the Giants was ridiculous. Why Joe Torre insists on running Belisario out there for 2 innings every night is beyond me. They blew the game with stupid defense, but once they took the lead in the 7th, it should've stood. Why is Torre not using Kuo? Is he hurt again? You have other arms in the pen. If you use Belisario in the 7th, can't you use Kuo in the 8th? Or Ohman? Or Mota? Why do you have these guys on the roster if you're just going to count on 1 or 2 of them before you get to Broxton? It's not even that Belisario pitched that poorly, outside of the 2 leadoff singles in the 8th. (Why didn't Torre lift him then?) But an experienced Little Leaguer would've realized he didn't have a play at the plate on that little nubber by Aurilia. Brutal!

Matt Kemp, meanwhile, needs to learn how to play centerfield. He should've ridden out there on a tricycle wearing a big green wig, a big red nose and giant floppy shoes. He consistently gets poor jumps or misjudges balls that should be outs and he needs to learn to take charge.

I know it's early but ... is it my imagination or is "the O Dog" a hundred times better as a lefthanded hitter? It seems like his bat is really slow swinging from the right side. And is it my imagination or is Russell Martin getting worse and worse as the months go by? He looks clueless at the plate and behind the plate.

THE MAIN POINT: The 2 major aspects I expressed concern about at the start of the season appear to be rearing their ugly heads. Pitching - both starting and relief in the middle and late innings - will prove to be the Blue's undoing in '09 unless Ned can get real creative. We've talked about Wolf. He's so-so at best. The oft injured Kuroda is okay when he's healthy, but by no means reliable. Phenom, Kershaw seems not quite ready to become the stud he's projected to be and McDonald appears to be a year or 2 away from really rounding out a quality staff. So, it's Billingsley, then pray for rain. And if Chad does't have it, it could be 5 or 6 game losing streak time. Again: You can't lose a Derek Lowe and then not replace him. As for the bullpen, well, if Kuo can't go and Wade is frayed, then we're in a lot of trouble. It's going to be extremely difficult to win close games, as evidenced last night. Think we can win the pennant? Then we'd better average 7 runs a game.