Gonna Be A Looonnnnng Seeeeeeeeeason

The Dodgers open up against the Giants tonight. The Giants and the Rocks will be battling it out come Septemeber, I think. I do think the Blue will somehow manage to take a game or two in this series. Kershaw is due to not stink and just how bad can Padilla be?

Sure has been nice to have Vinny back. I could live without Eric Collins. I actually like Steve Lyons. Did I mention I could sure live without Eric Collins? He knows baseball, not. He's so bad he actually makes me want to hear Charlie Steiner. Man, I miss Ross Porter.

Matt Kemp did not win the 2009 Gold Glove Award for his reliablility in centerfield. He won it because of his amazing athleticism and speed which lent to some spectacular Sports Center-worthy catches. The thing is, many of those plays were not quite as difficult as they seemed. One day, hopefully soon, Kemp's incredible natural skill and athleticism will trump his complete lack of baseball instincts, but, until then, it's going to be an adventure out there, as seen these past few games. Matt has literally won and lost two games for the Blue in this early part of the season. His bat has been amazing. 3 HRs in 3 games, 4 total - since my last blog questioning where his power has been - - (WAIT! THAT'S GONE! As I type, he just hit his 4th homer in 4 games! WOW!) -- His offensive contributions have put the Dodgers in the win column more than once thus far. But his outfield play has been atrocious. His inability to catch a routine short fly the other day in Florida, and his faux pas the night before last against AZ, where he went back when he should have gone forward allowing a routine blooper to drop in front of him cost the Dodgers a couple of games. Last night he cost them again when he simply missed a routine fly ball in the gloaming. There always seems to be a reason or an excuse, but the fact is, this gifted young athlete is still very much in the learning process when it comes to playing the outfield.

In fact, the entire team is fielding VERY POORLY. Someone should put a tent over that circus. Casey Blake almost blew the game last night, failing to start a routine double play in the late innings and allowing an additional run to score. Furcal has not made some of the plays he should make, but the Dodger Stadium scorers have been extremely charitable. DeWitt looks clueless and Manny is being Manny. With pitching that bad, they're really going to need to throw some leather.

Look, friends, it's common knowledge Joe Torre is none too pleased with Frank McCourt and the Dodger brass for not making an offer to Randy Wolf or even bothering to replace their most consistent pitcher from last year. How they could try to hoodwink fans into thinking the team could still be competitive without replacing the man who turned out to be their best starter?? Kershaw and Billingsley - I know the season is very young - have looked horrendous. Billingsley is up to his old tricks, imploding after the 3rd or 4th inning and Kershaw is still throwing way too many pitches, walking way too many guys. Padilla has looked terrible and Hiroki MedioKur-oda has looked the best of the four, which isn't saying a whole lot after giving up 10 hits to the Snakes last night at home. Still, he battled. The guy who really impressed me was knuckleballer Charlie Haeger. He struck out 13 Fish! Sure he gave up a dong to Jorge Cantu but he was tough. Too bad knuckleballers always seem to break even, so expectations are never too high. The Dodgers desperately need 2 starting pitchers. Needless to say, Torre will not be coming back unless some sort of move is made. You've got the best hitting outfield in baseball and you don't furnish them with the pitching they need to win?

Wanna talk bullpen? I admit, I was wrong last year, they wound up doing quite well, but I have never liked this pen. Sure, I like Broxton, when Torre actually uses him to close, but I'm not a huge Ramone Troncoso fan and these Ortizes - what's with these Ortizes? The Dodgers have been going to Ramon Ortiz almost daily (they have to because their starting pitching can't get them beyond the 5th inning) and he's looked awful every time. The other Ortiz was paraded out there in extra innings the other night against the Snakes and, while losing the game, I swear he looked like someone pulled actor, John Turturro out of a nightclub after a few drinks, put him in a Dodger uniform and propped him up on the mound. I think it may be time for Russ to call it quits. He looks rather overmatched. Jeff Weaver has been okay. Let's not overdo it. The Dodgers have a tendency ot oversell pithcers who have a couple of decent outings, then when they fall apart, everyone wonders, "What happened? He was doing so well." The prodigious crack Weaver gave up to Justin Upton last night made the upper left field pavilion in a nanosecond. I'd be surprised if it didn't make a whole in a seat. And what about George Sherrill? HE'S TERRIBLE! I get the feeling he's not too happy to be here. I think he needs to be the closer somewhere else. You know, that whole closer's mentality thing is very important to guys who have always been the closer, as Sherrill was in Baltimore. My guess is he was probably not planning to be here again this season, hoping the Dodgers would move him to a team that needed a closer, maybe for some STARTING PITCHING. From what I'm told, he's traditionally bad in the pre-season, but he steps it up once Opening Day hits. So, this has got to be the worst he's ever been. Guess he can only get better. I do love Hong Chi Kuo, however, and he'll be back soon, as will the tardy Ronald Belisario, who I've never been crazy about. But his numbers from last year speak for themselves. I just don't think he's that good and I think he'll be not that good this year.

Poor Blake DeWitt. He's been amazing in terms of his professional at bats, taking pitches, walking, making the pitchers work, but his swing looks slow and lumbering. He got a key hit in last night's extra inning win, (the Dodgers should take Stephen Drew out to dinner. He makes a routine throw and the Dodgers lose) but he's tapping out way too often and Ronny Bellard is hitting the beJeezus out of the ball. DeWitt has the start again tonight, but unless he rakes, I think Belliard will become the starting 2nd baseman very soon. Otherwise, their offense has been most impressive, save James Loney, who has begun to hit a little. Little concerned about Andre's mini-power outage (it's still early) but he is hitting, as are Casey Blake, (WHOOPS. Ethier just homered. Maybe now I should start questioning Manny's power) Furcal, Martin, Manny and, of course, Kemp. They're really going to have to all hit a ton because, between their starters and their bullpen, the Dodgers would have to average 10 runs a game to win the West.