Is This the Year of the Dodgers?

With just eight weeks left in the regular season, the Dodgers are struggling to get back to their early season form. Otherwise, they might be spending this fall playing patty-cake rather than baseball.

With a set outfield of Shane Victorino (CF), Matt Kemp (LF) and Andre Ethier (RF), that is one less area of concern. Their pitching is also in pretty good shape for a stretch run, with a starting rotation of Chris Capuano (10-8), Clayton Kershaw (9-6),  Chad Billingsly (8-9),  Aaron Harang (7-7), and Joe Blanton (4-3), along with Ronald Belisario (3-1), Javy Guerra (2-3, 8 saves), and Kenley Jansen (5-3, 22 saves) holding down the relief duties.

The team's strengths include A J Ellis (C), Mark Ellis (2B), James Loney (1B) and Luis Cruz (SS). There are some weaknesses at 3rd base and on the bench, but those could be resolved with a few faces coming off the disabled list -- specifically infielders Dee Gordon and Justin Sellers.

Rosters expand to forty in just three weeks, where we will probably see the return of Bobby Abreu, Jerry Sands, Scott Van Slyke, Tony Gwynn, and others.

With just a few breaks, the Dodgers could be a force to be reckoned with in the post season this year.

Sad end for Anderson

8-16-2010 @ 12:59 Andy Charles

Garret Anderson’s brief stay with the Los Angeles Dodgers came to an end last week when he was designated for assignment, a move that could bring an end to his meaningful major league career.

Although most of his time was spent across town with the Angels, 14 years in all, the 38-year-old Anderson is one of the most popular sportsmen in the Los Angeles area, and it was just a shame to see him shuffle to the plate this season and struggle so badly.

MLB betting pundits note how the veteran outfielder was hitting only .181 through 155 at-bats when the end came, with another veteran brought up from Albuquerque in the form of former Orioles slugger Jay Gibbons, who had been hitting well in Triple-A.

Should Anderson’s career be over, it will be one that many Angels fans will never forget, as he hit most of his 287 home runs and produced a big majority of his 1,365 RBI for them. Probably short of what is needed for a place in the Hall of Fame, but the Angels will undoubtedly celebrate him in some way.

Those placing the best baseball bets will recognize how he looked like a decent addition to the Dodgers roster this past off-season, but it just seemed that the bat-speed he was so renowned for with the Angels had gone and his timing was way off what it was in his prime.

Manager Joe Torre continued to try and get him into the line-up to break out of his funk, but nothing improved and he was eventually forced to make the move, something he told the Times was very hard to do.

“As tough as this was to do, for me because of how I respect this guy's career and respect him as a person, we just felt we wanted to try something different,” Torre said. “Garret said, 'Thanks for the opportunity,' and with that just slid away. I just wished him well.”

Anderson’s next move will come in the next 10 days, as the Dodgers have that time to find a trade partner for him, release him or, if he accepts the assignment, send him down to the minors. That would be a sad way for the three-time All-Star to go; maybe retirement would be the best option.

A Dodger comedy of errors

The sometimes fierce rivalry with the San Francisco Giants ramped up to red-hot on Tuesday night when the Dodgers were beaten 7-5 at Chavez Ravine and saw three members of the staff suspended.

As well as manager Joe Torre and bench coach Bob Schaefer, both banned for one game, key starter Clayton Kershaw was handed down a five-game sanction for intentionally throwing at Aaron Rowand.

Kershaw’s seventh inning indiscretion was not particularly harsh and his reaction when asked after the game came with a grin that suggested it was nothing other than a typical baseball incident. He has appealed the ban so he can continue to pitch in the meantime.

But the incident costing Torre and Schaefer their places on the bench probably cost the Dodgers a win, with the bullpen blowing a 5-4 lead in the ninth for a sixth successive defeat for the team.

MLB betting pundits note that it sparked a catalogue of errors from the team and management, with hitting coach Don Mattingly making a rare blunder during a visit to the mound that forced Jonathan Broxton to leave the game.

Mattingly spoke with the inner sanctum on the mound, and went to leave, making a couple of steps back towards home plate before turning and telling James Loney where he wanted him to play at first base.

After an appeal from the Giants, the umpires determined that Mattingly's turning constituted a second visit to the mound, meaning Broxton had to come out of the game. He was replaced by George Sherrill, who was then not given the unlimited number of warm-up pitches he should have been allowed.

The lefty, looking rusty, proceeded to give up the game-winning double to Andres Torres as a game Kershaw and the Dodgers looked to be winning went to the Giants in the most confusing fashion I can remember.

Strange how these things always seem to happen when rivals are playing – you can bet if Kansas City had been playing Tampa Bay MLB betting predictions would have suggested that  it would never have happened!

I’ll be back soon says Ely

7-20-2010 @ 9:45 Andy Charles

Probably the story of the first half of the season for the Los Angeles Dodgers was the impact made by rookie starting pitcher John Ely, whose stay in the bigs came to an end at the All-Star break when he was sent down to Albuquerque.

The tall right-hander was not tipped by MLB betting experts to be a long-term prospect for the future, but three months in the major leagues may well have just changed that thought.

Ely was drafted back in 2007 by the Chicago White Sox in the third round and arrived in Los Angeles last December as part of the trade that sent Juan Pierre to the Windy City, but few expected him to progress as quickly as he did.

He was originally called up at the end of April to bolster a beaten-up rotation and although his first start in New York against the Mets was nothing special the next six outings gave Dodgers fans a look at the talent that should be part of the ballclub for plenty of years to come.

The 24-year-old, who hails from Illinois, won three of those starts and was an unlucky loser in one of the others, had a 2.54 ERA by June 1 and although that has risen to 4.63 thanks to three poor outings, there is plenty to build on for the future.

"It's just part of the game. Sometimes you've got to cut your losses while you can. I'm not getting the job done," Ely said after his demotion. "We'll figure out what I need to do, wrestle it out. I'm as motivated as ever. I'll be back."

Ely has impressed everyone at Dodger Stadium and it is fairly clear that manager Joe Torre is a fan, although admitting that the time was right to send him down to Triple-A to get his confidence back and give Jon Link a chance to shine.

"We just decided that he needs to get back on track, and talking to John he certainly understood that," Torre said. "He's going down there with the attitude we need for him to have."

But Ely is confident that he will return to the rotation soon, and it would be no real surprise according to baseball betting tips to see him along with Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley fronting it for a few years if the Dodgers can keep all three of them around, especially with James McDonald not really doing much to earn a promotion.

Kuo gets Torre’s blessings

6-29-2010 @ 3:15 Andy Charles

As voting for the All-Star Game reaches the frenzy point, it appears that Dodgers manager Joe Torre is hoping that reliever Hong-Chih Kuo gets a call to play in the match, being played just down the road in Anaheim.

MLB Tips experts have the left-hander down as one of the stories of the 2010 season at Dodger Stadium, making his comeback from a fourth operation on his elbow and performing to an extremely high level.

Kuo and Jonathan Broxton have been formindable in late innings work so far this season, although the Dodgers closer did finally blow up on Sunday night when the Yankees made a huge comeback to claim an extra innings victory.

Broxton has every chance of being voted in, but Kuo’s impressive numbers might mean that boss Joe Torre has to plead for his inclusion by speaking to Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel, who will pick the final players on the National League roster for the game July 13.

As it stands only one Dodger bat will be voted on to the team, outfielder Andre Ethier who has slowed a little since coming back from injury, but remains in the top three in the outfielder voting behind Ryan Braun and the injured Jason Heyward.

But Kuo’s season has to be one of the most spectacular in recent Dodgers memory with no MLB Predictions backing him things to turn out as they have. It would be a travesty if he were to miss out on playing in Anaheim, even if Cincinnati's Arthur Rhodes might have something to say about being the premier lefty reliever in the National League.

He has given up just nine hits all season, for an opponents’ batting average of .114, and become one of Torre’s most trusted troops as the battle continues to get somewhere near the Padres at the top of the Western Division.

"If I'm asked - I can't say I've never done it if I've felt somebody should get some consideration - I may make a call on his behalf," Torre said after the defeat by the Yankees on Sunday.

"I'm not sure if it might be frowned on because there's very little that's left up to the manager any more I have to keep reminding myself we have to make sure we stay the course with him. I pitched him in two innings on Saturday but we have not repeated him. What he's gone through with the surgeries, he's certainly a great soldier."

Dodgers look to add pitching

6-1-2010 @ 2:15 Andy Charles

The nine-game win streak is more than a week past in history now, but even with a slightly more inconsistent run of form, the Dodgers enter the month of June fairly healthy and only a couple of games back of the NL West-leading Padres.

Although neither offense nor pitching has been consistent enough to put together a run better than nine games, and that’s not a bad run at all, it is good to look at the standings and MLB Tips to see that 16-5 (as of Tuesday) record against other teams on this side of the country.

Andre Ethier rejoined the lineup this week after his 15-day spell on the sidelines with a fractured little finger, taking some of the pressure off the rest of the bats in the order, which have been going from red-hot to ice-cold on back-to-back days over the last week or so.

When Ethier, who still leads the team in home runs and RBI despite his layoff, comes back in place of Garret Anderson, it is safe to assume that the team Joe Torre anticipated having will be in place for the first time since April.

Rafael Furcal boosted his confidence with three hits in Saturday’s game with Colorado, and although the Dodgers eventually went down 11-3, that was more about some less than pretty pitching from Hiroki Kuroda.

Kuroda has been something of a disappointment despite his 5-3 record, and he has been the main beneficiary of the good days the offense has had, unlike John Ely, who continues to cement his role in the rotation and was one of the hardest luck losers of the season in his last start, the 1-0 loss to the Cubs last week when he gave up only four hits but got nothing in the way of offensive help.

Ely, Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw have been excellent over the last month, as has Kuroda at times, but that fifth starter role is still the biggest worry on the team. That might be where the club has to make a trade, unless Carlos Monasterios proves he can go deeper than five innings sooner rather than later.

It is that worry that has had the blogosphere, along with the traditional media, talking about the likes of Roy Oswalt and Cliff Lee coming to Los Angeles, pitchers that could well turn this team into serious title contenders.

Nothing seems set to happen soon, but by the time the trade deadline comes later in the season, MLB Betting experts expect some movement to have happened, with the only movement needed something to strengthen. No point now playing for next season because this is definitely a Dodgers team that can contend for something special.

Let’s just forget April shall we?

5-5-2010 @ 1:50 Andy Charles

We’ve reached the end of the first full month of the baseball season and sadly the NL West standings and MLB Betting sites do not look particularly pleasant for the Dodgers, who only find themselves in a tie for last place thanks to the recent series win over Pittsburgh.

At least the last three days, with three victories, have given the Dodger faithful something to cheer, and something to look forward to, but you do have to temper thoughts that a three-game winning streak looks great by looking at the opponent.

The Pirates managed only eight runs in the four-game series, two of those in a shutout win last Thursday, and until this series playing against the Dodgers had been a good way to turn a poor early season around.

Thankfully the pitching was much improved against Pittsburgh, with Chad Billingsley and Hiroki Kuroda impressive and Carlos Monasterio doing well on his debut as a starter despite coming out after only four innings because of a sensible pitch count.

The main problem for the Dodgers so far this season has to be the pitching, but apart from Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier and Rafael Furcal, the bats have been too quiet (ignoring Manny here while he is on the disabled list).

Eight home runs (count ‘em eight) have come from the other members of the regular Dodgers line-up and the bench in 25 games – it’s just not good enough and explains a few of those 1-0, 2-0 and 2-1 reverse so far.

Situational hitting has been awful but being in a position when the whole of the infield (catcher included) has hit only six home runs in those 25 matches is one that cannot go on for too much longer without something being done about it.

Ethier and Kemp cannot be relied upon forever, along with Manny when he comes back. Those in the background at Chavez Ravine may soon be having to look for a trade partner to pick up a bat for there are none on the way through the farm system – at least none ready for now, and that’s what we all care about.

But something has to be done, and fast, or Baseball betting experts will have this done as a very frustrating season and a complete waste of time.