Smoke, Mirrors & Juan Pierre

Shut me up! One 5th of the way into Manny's jail time and the Dodgers had a 4-2 road trip against the defending World Champion Phillies and the downward spriraling, but upstart Marlins. Two great hitting teams. So, I guess I have to eat some of my words about how the Dodgers poor starting staff and bullpen would not fare well against powershouses from outside their division.

What did they do right? Well, first and foremost, they won the game Billingsley pitched. They must win most or all of those games, because after Chad, it's a crap shoot. (Yes, even with the phenom Kershaw and the fairly solid Randy Wolf, who goes tonight against the red hot Metropolitans at the Ravine) Chad pitched his heart out in that 2nd game in Philly and was in line to get his 6th win. Broxton had it wrapped up, then, for some ungodly reason, he throws an 0-2 fastball with 2 outs and runners on 1st & 2nd right into light hitting catcher Ruiz's wheelhouse and he bangs a double into the gap to tie the thing up. Martin had actually set up inside, which would've been the way to go, then, in a foolish attempt to fool Ruiz, moved quickly back outside. Idiotic move. Yet, the sign of a good team is to be able to overcome such mistakes and still win and that's exactly what the Dodgers were able to do in the 10th. Outside of Kershaw's 2nd stellar performance of the year yesterday against the fish, in which he had a no no through 7, the starting pitching has been doing it with smoke and mirrors, just good enough to get by. The bullpen has been just okay. Wade and Belisario have been pretty good, Troncoso and Ohman have been passable, Weaver's been good and bad, and Mota just plain sucks. He's done, people. As far as offense, Casey Blake's power since Manny's suspension has been huge, Martin has begun to come alive and Loney even had a couple of dongs on the trip. He's not lighting up the league, but check out his RBIs. Ethier and Furcal, meanwhile, are slumping horribly and Matt Kemp is mixing in just enough hits and RBI's with strikeouts. In spite of one horrific run in which he struck out 6 out of 7 at bats, the O Dog continues to pound the ball and make things happen, and the bench - Loretta, Castro, young Xavier Paul, and Ausmus have been AMAZING! (See yesterday's box score) Best bench in baseball. What an asset.

But, c'mon, people. This is the Juan Pierre show now. Who'da thunk Juan Pierre would quickly become the heart and soul of this Dodger team? The man is 20 for 43 since Manny started serving time. 20 FOR 43!!! He's driven in 9 freaking runs in 10 games as a leadoff hitter! He's stolen a bunch of bases, his OBP is through the roof and he's made the plays. He is the catalyst of this team and I don't see it ending any time soon. So, what happens when Manny comes back? He's on pace to be 100 for 215, which would be an all time record. Assuming Juan slows down a little - let's say he's 80 for 235 - or even 75 for 240 - but he's still getting the job done, how the hell are you gonna take him out of the lineup? That could mean Matt Kemp and the temperamental Andre Ethier could possibly find themselves in the same boat they were in last year when jolly old Andruw Jones and his belly fat attempted to patrol the Dodger outfield. A platoon situation. You almost kind of hope Juan slows down a little bit just to make things easier for Manny's return. But what trade bait if they decide to bench him again! And how about Xavier Paul? His home run against Florida puts a hole in someone's chest if he stands in it's way. And don't forget this kid they have coming up in a year or 2 - Andrew Lambo out of Newbury Park. He's supposed to be Manny's replacement when his contract ends and evidently he can hit a ton. Could Kemp or Ethier become trade bait? This team does need starting pitching... Here's hoping the Blue Jays falter and Halladay becomes a Dodger. Not likely, though. The Jays look like the real deal under Cito Gaston for the 2nd time. The AL East is a beast.

The Mets are hot and I think, in spite of them not having their best on the mound, and in spite of the fact the Blue has the best record in baseball and has only lost 3 games at home, I like their chances against the Dodgers in this series. The Mets are a very tough team, even without Carlos Delgado. But you gotta give Joe Torre and the Dodgers credit. They're turning out to be a deep, resilient club and they've opened up a 6 game lead in the West in mid-May. If Kershaw can gain some consistency and Wolf can suddenly become the solid veteran lefty they need, this team could do very well before Manny and other help arrives.