2011 Los Angeles Dodgers Review- The Rookies Part I

The Hitters

The 2011 Los Angeles Dodgers rookies were not expected to produce much going into the season as the Dodgers had veterans penciled in at every position and a veteran bench as well. It was obvious by the beginning of May that the Dodgers three-headed monster in leftfield (Gwynn, Thames,and Gibbons) were not going to produce offensively so Jerry Sands was the first of the rookies to get the call. Rafael Furcal's oft-injured Dodger career was winding down and the free agent to-be was eventually traded in part due to the potential of the next rookie call up, Shortstop Dee Gordon. Gordon and Sands had the largest impacts among the Dodger rookies with others making guest appearances from time to time throughout the season.

Jerry Sands, Outfield- He came into 2011 as the Dodgers #6 ranked prospect according to Baseball America and a hot start at AAA Albuquerque earned him an early May call up. He has the most power potential of any Dodgers prospect but that power did not transfer to the major leagues in 2011. A .200 batting average and only two homeruns in a little over a month's worth of action earned him more playing time in Albuquerque. He got a September callup which produced better results and two more homeruns. He ended his rookie season with a .253 Batting Average, 4 Homeruns, and 26 Runs Batted In in 198 At-Bats. His 2012 outlook may see him back in AAA to start the season as the Dodgers outfield is a little bit crowded for 2012, unless the Dodgers make some moves over the winter. I would rather see him getting at-bats in Albuquerque than I would making spot appearances for the Dodgers.

Clayton Kershaw

Major League Baseball announced today that Los Angeles Dodgers left-handed starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw has won the 2011 Cy Young Award. The numbers speak for themselves. A 21-5 won-loss record, a 2.28 Earned Run Average, and a 0.98 WHIP. He also led the league in Strikeouts with 248 in 233 1/3 Innings Pitched. Some baseball writers are calling it the pitching Triple Crown and all at 23 years old.

I had been saying that he should win the Cy Young Award since the beginning of September and he was very deserving. Several writers and reporters were quoted as saying they would not vote for him because the Dodgers didn't win the division and were only a barely above .500 team. A starting pitcher only pitches every 5th day and he cannot control what happens the other four days. He posted these numbers with an offense that ranked near the bottom in runs scored in the National League. oh, yeah, he deserved it.