Ace By Default

With the Los Angeles Dodgers shutting down Clayton Kershaw for an undetermined amount of time, Scott Kazmir becomes the Dodgers ace by default. Kazmir came through against a very good hitting and National League East leading Washington Nationals team in his first game as the ace. Kazmir only gave up one run in seven innings and struck out eight. Kazmir improved his record to 8-3 with a 4.30 earned run average. Veteran Chae Utley lead off the game with a homerun, had three hits, and totaled three runs batted in. I had my doubts about the Dodgers re-signing Utley this past offseason but luckily for me, he has proved me wrong.

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.

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.

Kazmir Comes Through

I have to admit, I had my doubts about Scott Kazmir all the way through spring training. He got lit up in his first couple of spring training starts and the way Dodgers pitchers were going down with one injury or another, I thought the Dodgers may have to trade for more starting pitching. He started pitching better towards the end of spring training and being a veteran pitcher, he seems to have been able to flip the switch. I know that one great regular season outing is just the beginning of a long season but Kazmir took a step towards easing my doubts. Kazmir came as close as he could come to matching Clayton Kershaw's opening day performance allowing only one hit in six innings with five strikeouts and no walks. He only threw 75 pitches and 49 of those were strikes.

The Dodgers offense was not the offensive juggernaut that it was in the first game but they are never going to be confused with the 1927 New York Yankees. Yasiel Puig needed to get a strong start to the season and he has done just that. He hit his second triple in two games, driving in the first two runs of the game and scored the final run when Carl Crawford drove him in.

New Manager Dave Roberts moves have been minimal in his first two games. With the pitching the Dodgers have had in the first two games, he hasn't had to make many decisions. Outside of inserting a few pinch hitters, making a few pitching changes to keep the bullpen sharp, and inserting Trayce Thompson as a defensive replacement, the Dodgers are almost managing themselves. The offense has scored 18 runs in two games, the pitching has two shutouts and has only allowed six hits.

The Pre-Disabled List

It looks like one of the few injured Dodgers that will be ready for opening day is shortstop Corey Seager. I do not know when the Dodgers can officially start a Disabled List but it looks like they will be able to already fill that list. How many players can you put on the Disabled List? Yasmani Grandal's shoulder is still bothering him, Howie Kendrick was scratched from his latest start with a calf problem, and then there are the pitchers. Brett Anderson has already been lost for several months, Alex Wood has had various issues, Scott Kazmir has had a mystifying loss in velocity, and Mike Bolsinger was scratched from his last start due to an abdominal muscle issue.

A Camp Of Attrition

Spring Training 2016 has turned into a camp of attrition for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers are still looking to fill out their starting rotation but the candidates- Brandon Beachy and Mike Bolsinger are the frontrunners- but they went down with nagging injuries with only a little more than a week to go in camp. Alex Wood has also been slowed by injury and has only made two stats this spring and Scott Kazmir had an encouraging last outing after getting shelled in his first two starts.

Rookie shortstop Corey Seager has been sidelined by a knee strain and has been limited to 13 at bats this spring, Andre Ethier just went down after taking a foul ball off of his lower leg, Yasmani Grandal has a shoulder issue, Howie Kendrick has missed some time, Adrian Gonzalez is just now getting in some time on the playing field, and Justin Turner is working his way back from microfracture surgery in the off season. That would be three potential members of the starting rotation and six regulars. As a Dodgers fan, that is not the start to the season I was hoping for.

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.

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.

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.

The Dodgers Sign Kazmir

The Dodgers signed left handed starter Scott Kazmir to a three year $48 million contract to fill the void left in the starting rotation when Zack Greinke signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks. This will be Kazmir's first season in the National League as he has spent his entire 11 year career in the American League. He has compiled a 98-90 record in 272 games, 271 starts, and he has a career ERA of 3.96. He split last season between the Oakland A's and the Houston Astros where he had a combined record of 7-11 with a 3.10 ERA.

This is not a bad signing by the Dodgers and based on the free agent market this off season, could be considered a steal. The Dodgers could possibly field a rotation of five left handed starters. I do not know if that has ever been done before in major league baseball history but it could be interesting with today's platoon happy lineups. It could neutralize a lot of left handed power hitters.