Spring Training

I love Spring Training. Even the worst teams in baseball have hope as some young phenom tears up Spring Training pitching with Hall of Fame like averages or some young arm posts Cy Young like ERA's.

The Dodgers seem to be flying a little bit under the radar this Spring Training. With defending World Series champion and pitching rich San Francisco Giants and a talented Colorado Rockies team in the National League West, not much attention is being paid to the Dodgers.

New manager Don Mattingly seems to be trying to set a new tone for the Dodgers this spring training. Dodgers.com has reported that he has even stepped into the batter's box during bullpen sessions to give the pitcher's a batter to face, something I have never heard of any manager or coach doing.

First base coach Dave Lopes was brought in to emphasize base running basics and I am impressed by the reports I am reading off the internet about the work he is doing. Too many times last year the Dodgers ran themselves out of innings and games by making bad decisions or got careless on the base paths. I hope he turns Matt Kemp into a special project because he has the potential to steal 40 to 50 bases a year. Young minor leaguer Dee Gordon is also in camp and he could use some work to hone his baserunning skills.

I have to be honest, I did not think much of the Dodgers choice of Don Mattingly as manager when it was announced. It seems like he is making all of the right moves and doing things a little differently. That is a departure from the old regime of Joe Torre. It will be interesting to see what happens once the games begin.