It was a two team race down the stretch to decide the division between the Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks, and it was the mid-season acquisition of Manny Ramirez that put the Dodgers over the top. The success with Manny in the lineup didn’t end just there, as the Dodgers continued their hot play into the playoffs and upset the Chicago Cubs in a three game sweep, which was powered by Manny Ramirez. Unfortunately, the ride ended against the eventual World Series champions, Philadelphia Phillies. Heading into the off season there was some uncertainty about Manny’s future with the Dodgers, but all that was put to rest when he signed a two year deal worth 45 million dollars.
With Manny Ramirez in the lineup, he just made everyone else around him that much better, and his impact even reached the pitchers. If a deal wasn’t struck between the Dodgers and Manny, LA would’ve been looking at a dire situation, and probably no playoffs. Manny’s bat was so important to the team last year, just imagine how much he could accomplish now with a full season with the team.
Last season, if Manny had played a full year with the Dodger he probably would’ve won the National League MVP award, because at the end of the year, his numbers were off the charts. He hit 32 homeruns, batted in 121 RBI and had a batting average of .332. Age most certainly is not slowing this guy down at all, and will turn 37 in mid-season.
Two players that reaped the rewards of Manny in the lineup were Blake DeWitt and James Loney. These two players just took off and continued their hot streaks into the playoffs.
For Blake DeWitt, last year was his rookie season, and put up a respectable .264 batting average. He will really have to impress manager Joe Torre if he wants playing time, because he is going to have to outplay solid defender Orlando Hudson, Casey Blake and Rafael Furcal.
James Loney had the breakout year that Dodgers management was waiting for, when he hit thirteen homeruns, 90 RBI, and had a very nice .289 batting average. These two are the future of the Dodgers, and with Manny around they can learn so much.
Andre Ethier out of left field quietly put in a twenty homerun season with a .305 batting average and hit a grand slam at Wrigley Field in the playoffs. His bat along with DeWitt’s and Manny’s will carry the load.
Another addition the Dodgers made, sort of flew under the radar when they signed Orlando Hudson as a free agent, and what a pick up that was. Injuries disturbed his 2008 season, but he is one of the best second basemen around, and is a good bat in the bottom of the order.
Rafael Furcal and Casey Blake are two veteran players that can still play the game at peak efficiency. Casey Blake was an excellent pick-up from the Cleveland Indians organization and hit 21 homeruns in his first year with the Dodgers. As for Furcal, he is solid at shortstop, and can bat anywhere from the leadoff spot, or behind the big bats.
One player that took a back seat last year was catcher Russell Martin, after he posted an amazing 2007 season. Martin started off the first half of 2008 nicely which earned him a nod on the NL All-Star team. He struggled after that and was an after thought in the playoffs. He has showed everyone what he is capable of doing, and will be a very important bat in the Dodgers lineup. He will probably bat out of the two hole and will need to get on base consistently because Manny will be right behind him in the order.
Starting pitching may be a problem for the Dodgers because it is a lot of the new mixed in with some of the old.
Some of the new is still Chad Billingsley, at just 25 years old, will lead off the pitching staff and broke out in the playoffs. He should easily improve on his sixteen wins from last year, and cut down on his ten losses. Also pretty new is sophomore Clayton Kershaw who went 5-5 in his rookie year. Don’t expect him to take a major jump ahead because he still has kinks in his game that need to be fixed.
As for some of the old, the Dodgers have Randy Wolf and Jason Schmidt trying to make comebacks as legit, dominant starters again. Schmidt was a dominant pitcher in his time with the San Francisco Giants, but since then he has lost his control, mechanics, and you could also toss in his surgeries which caused him to miss all of last year. With the Dodgers so far, Schmidt has only gotten into six games, which were all starts.
With Randy Wolf, the Dodgers did get a 12-12 season from him, but isn’t good enough to pitch behind Billingsley. That will be the problem for the Dodgers all season, a good number two pitcher, and they need to rectify that situation, because that will cost them the playoffs.
Compared to their only other division competition, the Diamondbacks have a much better pitching rotation.
Out of the bullpen the Dodgers have reliable arms that they can turn to in Jonathon Broxton, Hiroki Kuroda, James McDonald, and Claudio Vargas. They all stepped up their games in September of last year and were excellent in holding games and in relief of the starters.
Overall, a lot of the offense will go around Manny, because opposing pitchers will pitch away from him, which means the bats behind him will get pitches to hit. The Dodgers do have other bats around him that can hold their own as well in James Loney, Andre Ethier, and Russell Martin. Starting pitching needs help, because other than Chad Billingsley, the Dodgers are screwed.
POSITIVE --> MANNY IS RE-SIGNED TO A NEW CONTRACT AND HIS AFFECT WILL ONLY HELP. THE DODGERS DO HAVE OTHER BATS THAT CAN PLAY WELL.
NEGATIVE --> STARTING PITCHING MAY JUST COST THE DODGERS THE DIVISION IF THEY CAN’T FIND A GOOD NUMBER TWO PITCHER.
X-FACTOR --> EASLIY MANNY RAMIREZ. WITHOUT HIM THE DODGERS WOULD’VE BEEN GOOD AND CONTENDED FOR THE PLATOFFS AND THAT’S IT. WITH MANNY HE TAKES THE DODGERS TO ANOTHER LEVEL.
SLEEPER PICK --> ORLANDO HUDSON SHOULD HAVE AN EXCELLENT YEAR BECAUSE HE IS VERY SOLID AND CAN CHIP IN OFFENSIVELY WHEN NEEDED.
PREDICTION --> IF THE DODGERS CAN GET ANOTHER STARTING PITCHER, THEY WILL WIN THE DIVISION. RIGHT NOW, ALL THE DODGERS HAVE IS CHAD BILLINGSLEY WHO CAN’T DO IT ALL ALONE. THE DODGERS SHOULD IMPROVE ON THEIR 84 WINS FROM LAST YEAR.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
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