Stormy Friday; Kid Kershaw Koming!

Not the kind of way to start off a weekend series against one of the more surprising teams so far, especially coming off a sweep of Cincinnati. The Dodgers played well last night against St. Louis, and got a much needed good start from D-Lowe (the team's third straight solid start). Unfortunately, the offense could never get going.

Personally, I still think losing Rafael Furcal for these last few weeks has hindered the offense.

Now, I don't live in L.A. anymore but it was quite a surprise to see the weather looking more like it does here in Texas. There was snow in the mountains, twin twisters in Moreno Valley, and a rain delay in a Dodger game. Last night's game went into an hour rain delay with one out in the bottom of the 9th inning with the Blue trailing 2-1. Just then, we had a widespread power outage here in parts of Dallas. Unfortunately, when the power came back on, I got to see the end of the game: Andruw Jones strike out swinging with the tying run at 3rd and winning run at first.

The guy claims he isn't the "make-excuses" kind of guy for anything, especially his current slump. He's been nursing a bum knee (torn cartilage) for who knows how long, and was recently benched in order to get some rest and try to strengthen the knee through exercises. So all he did was get a pinch-hitting call last night and looked no better than he did before.

Andruw? Get the damn surgery, take the six weeks to recover, recuperate, rehab and return, and hope you can give the team half a season's worth.

**********
Kid Kershaw is coming! The Dodgers have finally brought up Clayton Kershaw, who wowed and dazzled hitters during Spring Training. Kershaw will be making his Major League debut tomorrow afternoon. Kershaw might just be the spark in the rotation the Dodgers need. Penny and Lowe have been fairly inconsistent, and much of the production in the rotation has been coming from Billingsley and Kuroda. They have gotten virtually nothing out of the 5th spot all year, at least when it's been needed. Well, they don't have a day from now until June 9th, so a 5th starter is needed, so Kershaw will get at least three starts from now until then. Billingsley, who was to start tomorrow, will get an extra day off and start Monday in Chicago, and Kuroda will start Tuesday now instead of Monday.

To make room for Kershaw, Loaiza was activated from the DL and then designated for assignment, which means the Dodgers have 10 days to either trade or release him, and Brazoban was optioned back to AAA-Vegas.

Quarterly Power Rankings

While many sites do weekly rankings, I figured it'd be easier to do them quarterly. We've played a little over ¼ of the season so far, so it's time to do the first!

1. Arizona (28-17): Brandon Webb is on pace for 36 wins and TWO Cy Young Awards.

2. Chicago-NL (28-18): Bad news! Kerry Wood hurt again! Seriously! He's really hurt again! Ok, maybe not.

3. Boston (29-19): Any new World Series rings will no longer have trademark phrase "Yankees Suck" on it.

4. Houston (26-21): Lance Berkman is so hot, the hitting coach is coming to him for hitting advice.

5. Tampa Bay (27-19): Rays players are debating whether or not they like this winning "thing".

6. L.A. Angels (27-20): Angels announce stadium food vendors no longer required to use phlegm as a condiment.

7. Florida (25-19): Go figure... Fish trade Miguel Cabrera and D-Train and go from last place to first.

8. St. Louis (27-21): So much for Albert Pujols and his torn elbow ligament; he's hitting .355 with 11 dingers.

9. L.A. Dodgers (24-21): Bargain signing? Andruw Jones earning an average of $2.25 million per home run so far.

10. Chicago-AL (24-20): Ozzie Guillen has vowed to control his temper and to not lash out in Spanglish tirades.

11. Atlanta (24-21): Braves have begun plans to take Turner Field with them on the road.

12. Philadelphia (25-22): Jayson Werth had more RBI in one game last week than Andruw Jones has all season.

13. Oakland (24-23): Rich Harden got his annual trip to the disabled list out of the way early this season.

14. Baltimore (24-20): Orioles players still wondering why they can't play the Yankees 162 times.

15. Minnesota (23-22): The Twins have decided not to trade Johan Santana. Ooops! Wrong season.

16. Cleveland (22-23): C.C. Sabathia's ERA is so bloated that he might have to GIVE BACK his Cy Young Award.

17. N.Y. Mets (22-21): Billy Wagner has offered to become the clubhouse psychologist and liaison for the Latinos.

18. Toronto (23-24): The Blue Jays have asked Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams to help out in the bullpen.

19. Texas (22-25): NWS will halt Tornado Warnings during home games when Ron Washington gets fired.

20. Milwaukee (21-24): Eric Gagne has asked the Brewers to suspend the Sausage Race until he holds onto a save.

21. Kansas City (21-24): Royals fans are still irate over the George Brett pine-tar incident.

22. Pittsburgh (21-24): The Willie Stargell statue outside PNC will remove paperbag over its head when Bucs get to .500.

23. N.Y. Yankees (20-25): Yankees announce plans for a new plaque in Monument Park to honor Johnny Damon's defense.

24. Cincinnati (21-25): Dusty Baker swallowed a box of toothpicks trying to master the "double-switch."

25. Washington (20-27): Local Democrats are pushing for Brain Tumor Day to help boost attendance in new park.

26. Seattle (18-28): First the Sonics threaten to leave town, and now this?

27. Detroit (18-27): Jim Leyland is so disgusted, he's resorted to smoking three packs a day instead of two.

28. San Francisco (18-29): Bruce Bochy is wondering if leaving San Diego for 'Frisco really makes a difference.

29. Colorado (18-28): Rockies are just one game behind last year's World Series team after 46 games.

30. San Diego (17-30): Even GM Kevin Towers thinks this team stinks.

Boston's Lester Toss No-No

Well we've seen several pitchers flirt with no-hitters so far this young season, but Boston's Jon Lester is the first to get it done. Earlier tonight, Lester blanked the Royals 7-0 to become the first Boston lefty to toss a no-no since 1957. Lester becomes the second Red Sox pitcher in as many seasons to throw a no-hitter, following rookie Clay Buchholz's no-hitter last season. And Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek caught his fourth career no-hitter, a Major League record. Varitek, who caught Buchholz's no-hitter last season, as well as Lester's tonight, also caught Derek Lowe's no-hitter, and Hideo Nomo's second no-hitter.

Congratulations to Jon Lester!

That Was Quick

As quickly as they ran off eight straight wins and 10 of 11, they've suddenly looked abysmal and lost while losing four straight in ugly fashion. All of a sudden the pitching has stunk, the offense has shut down, and their defense has looked like a bunch of little leaguers just learning how to play the game. And to make matters worse, their best player so far this year, Rafael Furcal was just placed on the DL with a bad back, retroactive to last Wednesday.

I suppose the ugliest of the games, although it wasn't really all that ugly, was yesterday's loss to the Astros at home. They had already won the first two games of the series in convincing fashion when Hiroki Kuroda took the mound to hopefully rebound from his horrific start during the week against the Mets. All he did was take a no-hitter into the seventh inning with two outs. He gave a hit to Hunter Pence, then a run, and then he was done. But the Dodgers still had the lead 2-1, and stretched it out to 3-1 in the bottom of the inning. Then it all unraveled. Jonathan Broxton couldn't get anyone out to save his life, and the Astros blew the game open with a 6-run eighth inning and eventually won 8-5.

I guess it just goes to show you what can happen when you lose one important guy in the lineup. It becomes contagious. No knock on Juan Pierre, who hasn't played all that bad when he's gotten the chance to play. But Pierre just doesn't seem to have that same effect on an offense like Raffy does, and it shows. The offense just hasn't been the same since Raffy went down, and it could be another week or so before he's back. So for now, because the Dodgers don't dare set forth with a lineup without a "true" leadoff hitter, Pierre plays and leads off, and Ethier probably sits while Torre allows Andruw more time to figure his swing out at the bottom of the lineup.

The Blue head to Milwaukee for three, and with perfect timing, I suppose, because they won't get a chance to further damage former Dodger Eric Gagne's season as the Brewers closer since he was pulled from that role over the weekend. But the Brewers are struggling themselves, so now would be an ideal time to get going again. After three in Brew Town, they head back to the Southland to face the Halos down in Anaheim this weekend as interleague gets underway. They've got to put up a good showing and win two of three against the Angels...

Great Read

This story was forwarded to me by another Dodger fan, which was posted on SI.com via Baseball Prospectus. It basically shows how the current team was constructed and put together, and gives props to everyone involved.

It's Been A While...

Yeah it sure has! I figured I'd give the team a month to get settled in before I really start to rip into the team or Joe Torre for their early failures and boneheaded moves. And for a while it looked like this was going to get ugly pretty quickly. But then the Pirates showed up in L.A., and after a terrible six-game trip to Cincy and Atlanta, the Rockies showed up, and all was well again!

One of the things I noticed over the first part of April was Joe Torre couldn't settle on one set lineup. And while I think this was part of the reason for the early struggles, I kind of got the feeling that because of odd scheduling and traveling during Spring Training, Torre never really got much of a chance to see where everyone fit into the lineup, and he never really got much of a feel for everyone's strengths and weaknesses. I don't know what it was that finally clicked on in his mind, but eventually he settled on a lineup that looks something like this:

SS - Furcal
LF - Ethier/Pierre
RF - Kemp
2B - Kent
1B - Loney
C - Martin
CF - Jones
3B - Dewitt

And with this lineup, the offense, which had been struggling to score runs (the team was already hitting, just not much with runners on), started to click and gel, and the team was off and running. In just a matter of an 8-game winning streak and winning 10 of 12 games, and 11 out of 15, the Dodgers cut Arizona's lead in the division in half from 6 to 3 games. And for a while there it looked like Arizona was going to run away with the division after their red-hot start. I know Arizona is good, and I knew they were going to be good, I just didn't think it would happen so soon and so quickly.

So for now, the Dodger offense is one of the best in the league as far as runs scored and team hitting, as they rank in the Top 5 in both categories. The pitching has also been spectacular, even after three poor outings by the starters in the just concluded Mets series. And the defense has been brilliant for the most part, as well.

My only concern at this point, really, is Andruw Jones' bat. This guy has all the talent in the world, and yet for whatever reason, he can't seem to get out of this funk he's in. Now, having played baseball growing up through high school, and having been taught how to hit, I can already see what Andruw's problems are. One, his back leg keeps flying out every time he swings at a bad pitch away. And two, his hips keep opening up which is keeping him off-balanced. And because one and two are so constant and consistent with him, it has all gone to head and become a mental thing. I know for a fact, from what I've heard and read, that he's been out at the ballpark early everyday and watching video with hitting coach Mike Easler trying to fix the problems. He sees the problem. He acknowledges it. He KNOWS it's a problem. And during his sessions with Easler, and during batting practice, the guy is a monster in the hitters box. But for whatever reason, he can't seem to translate all that into the games. And thus it has all gone to his head. I know this is so cliche, but he just needs to relax, stop thinking about everything, and just go out there and play. I can't see him hitting .170 with 1 home run the rest of the season, and I'm pretty confident he'll snap out of it. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

Having said all that, Rafael Furcal is having a career year. Andre Ethier is quietly having a solid season so far. Matt Kemp has quickly become the team's best hitter. Jeff Kent has been as consistent as always. James Loney has made a name for himself as an elite first baseman. Russell Martin is following up his All-Star season with another stellar start. Blake Dewitt, who wasn't even supposed to be in big league camp during Spring Training, let alone the everyday third baseman through the first month of the season, has done a solid job of holding down the fort at the hot corner until Andy Laroche and/or Nomar are ready. And when they are, how do you send Dewitt down? And then there's Juan Pierre. I'm still not much of a fan of his, especially after his boneheaded play after stealing second base the other night, but he has quietly gone out and done his job as a part-time player and hasn't complained about it once. And he's been fairly decent in left field, too. And the pitching has more or less done what it has had to do to keep the team in most of these games to allow the offense to do their thing.

So, as it turns out, it looks like the Dodgers are in this for the long haul, and as a fan, I couldn't be more thrilled with what has transpired through the first 34 games.