Kershaw Lands On The Disabled List

The worst possible news for Los Angeles Dodgers fans happened a few days ago when it was announced that pitcher Clayton Kershaw was going to be placed on the 15 day Disabled List due to a "mildly" herniated disc. He will miss three to four starts at the minimum but that is three to four starts the Dodgers can ill afford to have him miss.

The Los Angeles Dodgers go into the games of 2 July six games behind the San Francisco Giants in the National League West. At this point in the season the Dodgers would be the leader for the Wild Card spot. Kershaw, Kenta Maeda, and Scott Kazmir were the only Dodgers in the five man rotation that had not missed any starts this season.

However, Maeda and Kazmir are not even averaging six innings a start whereas Kershaw is averaging over seven innings a start. Take Kershaw out of the mix and the Dodgers overworked bullpen is due to get into games much earlier. Seven Dodgers relievers have pitched in 30 or more games. Pedro Baez and Joe Blanton lead the way with 37 appearances a piece.

The First Two Weeks

The first two weeks of the Los Angeles Dodgers season has had its ups and downs and its disappointments and surprises. They are 8-5 with an early one game lead over the San Francisco Giants who they have already played seven times. The starting pitching behind Clayton Kershaw and Kenta Maeda has been inconsistent, the bullpen has been shaky at times, and the first two outings of Ross Stripling's career have been a surprise although he does not have a win to show for it. Kershaw has gotten off to a good start with a 2-0 record with a 1.64 ERA but I am almost disappointed when he gives up a run. I would also have to list Maeda has a bit of a surprise as he has inly allowed one earned run in his first 19 innings. Kenley Jansen has gotten off to a great start with five saves in his first five games and he has not allowed a run.

The Los Angeles Dodgers offense has also been up and down. Regulars Yasmani Grandal and Howie Kendrick are just now working their way back into the lineup and that should help the Dodgers as they are fifth in the league in runs scored, averaging five runs a game, but their has been a power shortage as the Dodgers only have eight homeruns in 13 games. Yasiel Puig (.356) and Enrique Hernandez (.400 with two homeruns off Madison Bumgarner) off both gotten off to hot starts at the plate. Corey Seager has gotten off to an OK start but I was hoping he would just blow the National League away with his skills. Injuries to Carl Crawford and Scott Van Slyke has opened the door for Trayce Thompson to get some playing time.

Maeda Goes One Up

Kenta Maeda of the Los Angeles Dodgers one upped Clayton Kershaw and Scott Kazmir in his first start for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Maeda matched Kershaw and Kazmir shutout inning for shutout inning but he also hit a solo homerun in his second career at bat. He pitched six shutout innings, scattered five hits, struck out four, and did not issue a walk. He only threw 84 pitches, 57 of those were strikes.

Maeda may be the key to the Dodgers championship hopes this season. Maeda is slight of build weighing in at slightly over 150 pounds and he carries a large part of the burden for the Dodgers in replacing Zack Greinke. The scouting report given by former major league pitcher and Fox analyst C.J. Nitkowski on Foxsports.com on 1 January 2016 says that Maeda has a five pitch arsenal with his two best pitches being a fastball with his out pitch being a slider. He also throws a two seam fastball and an occasional curve and changeup. He will also have to adjust to pitching every five days rather than once a week like he did in Japan. It will be interesting to see how he will hold up to the grind of a 162 game major league season.

The Evaluations Begin

I would have to believe that Clayton Kershaw and Kenta Maeda are the only two starting pitchers that are guaranteed a spot in the starting rotation. Kazmir was not sharp in his initial outing of the spring and neither was Alex Wood. Zach Lee and Brandon Beachy also looked good in their first outings of the spring but Lee's body of work will be more closely examined than a veteran pitcher's would be and Beachy has had an injury plagued career and has missed the majority of the past two seasons. The Dodgers started the spring with a surplus of starting pitching and they are down to a pool of six unless Jose Deleon or Julio Urias both have such an outstanding spring, the do not give the Dodgers brass any choice but to take them to Los Angeles when the team breaks camp.

Was There Ever Any Doubt?

Clayton Kershaw was named as the Opening Day Starter for the sixth season in a row. Was there ever any doubt that Kershaw was going to get the opening day nod? I am hard pressed to see who is going to follow Kershaw after opening day. Ryu will not be back until May, McCarthy will not be back until after the all star break, nobody knows what Kenta Maeda can do, and Alex Wood might be the Dodgers "X" factor. Newly signed Scott Kazmir will be penciled in as the #2 starter, and Brett Anderson will be the #3. Maeda might be the only right handed pitcher in the mix.

A Quiet Off Season

After being one of the shakers and movers of the 2014-15 off season, the Dodgers have spent this off season very quietly. The Dodgers signed a few free agent pitchers to try to shore up their starting pitching and their long relief out of the bullpen and they signed all of their arbitration eligible players, but a few minor trades of players that really didn't fit in the Dodgers plans.

The biggest free agent signee was a veteran of the Japanese professional baseball league, starting pitcher Kenta Maeda to an incentive laden eight year contract. The Dodgers also signed veteran right handed pitcher Joe Blanton, who remade his career coming out of the bullpen for the Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates last season after spending most of his career as a starter. The Dodgers also re-signed veteran second baseman Chase Utley who joined the Dodgers via trade at the end of last season for the stretch run.

This off season became more about who the Dodgers lost through free agency. The Dodgers lost right handed starting pitcher Zack Greinke to division rival Arizona Diamondbacks and shortstop Jimmy Rollins and Howie Kendrick were not re-signed. Kendrick turned down a qualifying offer of $15.8 million from the Dodgers and Rollins' contract expired. Kendrick only played in 117 games due to injury and Rollins had the worst season of his major league career, only batting .224 after hovering near .200 for most of the season. They are both still free agents.