As Don Mattingly gets ready for his first season as a Major League manager, the Dodgers are looking to return to the playoffs. Last year the Dodgers were flat out ridiculous, finishing below .500 for the first time since 2005. Their bats were hit or miss throughout the entire season and their pitching was nowhere near dominant. The team also suffered from ongoing injuries throughout the season.
So far this offseason, the Dodgers have somewhat addressed their issues from 2010. On one hand, team parted ways with the once popular but now pedestrian catcher Russell Martin and ineffective set up man George Sherrill. On the other hand, however, the Dodgers still have the often injured and aging Rafael Furcal penciled in at shortstop and their situation in left field isn’t exactly promising. As of now outfielders Marcus Thames and Jay Gibbons will split time in left field. This team is going to rely heavily on their younger talent and perhaps some luck if they are going to succeed in 2011. It’s hard to imagine that Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, and James Loney won’t produce 30 home runs and/ or 100 RBI each, like they are capable of doing, this season.
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Tony Gwynn Jr. and Aaron Miles getting ready to play the Cubs |
There were some additions that the Dodgers made during the offseason that are worth mentioning. The addition of utility infielder Juan Uribe will definitely help the Dodgers both on the field and at the plate. Uribe, a two-time World Champion with the Chicago White Sox in 2005 and last year with the San Francisco Giants, hit a career-high 24 home runs last year in an everyday role. Uribe is projected to be the everyday second baseman for the Dodgers in 2011. The other notable addition was that of speedster Tony Gwynn Jr. Gwynn Jr. appeared in 117 games for the Padres last season and stole 17 bases in 289 at bats. During Sunday’s spring training game against the Chicago Cubs, Gwynn went 1 for 2 with a single and stole second base.
As far as pitching is concerned the Dodgers resigned Vicente Padilla and brought back Jon Garland. Padilla appeared in only 16 games for Los Angeles last year because he spent two different stints on the disabled list. Padilla will once again start the season off on the disabled list due to an offseason arm surgery. Garland went 14-12 with an ERA of 3.47 with the Padres last season. He is on track to be part of the Dodgers’ rotation that includes ace Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, southpaw Ted Lilly, and Hiroki Kuroda. Although this rotation figures to have a lot of mileage on them, they should rank amongst the top in the National League. Billingsley got the start on Sunday against the Cubs and pitched three and two-thirds innings, allowing two runs on three hits, one walk and two strikeouts. It’s not exactly the type of line you would like to see from your starter, but that’s why they have spring training.
One position battle that could arise is at the closer position. As of now, Jonathan Broxton is the Dodgers’ closer. In his first full season as the Dodgers’ closer in 2009, Broxton was light out. He recorded 36 saves while posting an earned run average of 2.61 in 76 innings pitched. Last year, however, Broxton was not able to repeat his dominance. In 62 and two-thirds innings last year, the Dodgers’ closer saved a meager 22 games and posted an earned run average of 4.04. Those statistics are not exactly indicative of a lights out closer. If Broxton continues his ninth inning struggles, the Dodgers have set up man Hong-Chih Kuo who is more than capable of closing out games. Despite starting off the season on the disable list last season, the All-Star reliever recorded 12 saves and gave up an earned run average of 1.20 in 60 innings pitched.
The Dodgers definitely have both the talent and the experience to clinch a playoff birth in 2011. Unfortunately for them, their division won’t be that easy to capture. The National League West features both the young and hungry Colorado Rockies and the World Champion San Francisco Giants. The Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Diego Padres, who are also in the West, are far from pushovers. We’ll see what happens in Tinseltown, but rest assured that the Dodgers are in for a wild ride in 2011.
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