A Rough Beginning

Left handed starter Scott Kazmir made his first appearance in a Dodger uniform against the Texas Rangers and it was a rough start. He went two innings and gave up six hits and two runs. He struck out two and did not issue a walk. Mike Bolsinger followed Kazmir and pitched two scoreless innings allowing a hit, struck out two, and gave up a walk. A couple of Dodgers pitching prospects, Jacob Rhame and Jharel Cotton, pitched the last couple of innings. Rhame pitched a scoreless inning and Cotton pitched two scoreless frames. The Dodgers have a lot of arms in camp.

With Adrian Gonzalez sitting out with neck discomfort, Scott Van Slyke got the start at first base and hit a homerun to power the Dodgers. Corey Brown scored the tying run on a wild pitch and that was the extent of the Dodgers offense.

The Arms Race

The Los Angeles Dodgers were recently named as having one of the top farm systems in baseball led by #1 overall prospect, shortstop Corey Seager. The Dodgers also have a wealth of power arms led by #1 left handed pitching prospect, 19 year old Julio Urias. Right hander Jose De Leon is also high up on everyone's prospect list.

Urias and De Leon were two of the prospects and power arms that the Dodgers invited to spring training as non-roster players. Joining those two as non-roster invitees will be Chris Anderson, Chase De Jong (acquired in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays last season), Caleb Dirks (acquired in a trade with the Atlanta Braves last season), and Jacob Rhame. Other young arms that are already on the 40 man roster- Jharel Cotton, Zach Lee, and Ross Stripling- will be in camp as well.

The Dodgers proved last year that you can never have enough starting pitching and with Zach Greinke gone, Hyun Jin-Ryu coming back from an injury, and Brandon McCarthy already on the disabled list, the Dodgers are still looking for starting pitching but they will not rush any of these young arms along before they are ready.