June is nearly here and the Dodgers, winners of the NL West
the last two years, are right in the thick of it. Going into tonight’s game
against the Braves, LA held a slim 1.5 game lead on the Giants, who have been on a
tear.
Dodger fans are wondering if the deep pocket owners will go
get another pitcher to replace Hyun Jin-Ryu and Brandon McCarthy, out for the
season with injuries.
Zack Greinke (5-1, 1.48 ERA) has been the ace of the staff
while Clayton Kershaw has been slow out of the gates, posting a 3-3 record and
3.86 ERA. Kershaw tossed seven innings of scoreless ball and struck out 10
against the Braves on Tuesday. If he keeps that up, fans in Chavez Ravine may
call off the death watch.
The Dodger rotation is a little shaky with Brett Anderson
(2-2, 3.47 ERA), Mike Bolsinger (3-0, 0.71 ERA) and Carlos Frias (3-2, 5.34
ERA) trying to shore up the gap caused by injuries.
Kenley Jansen is back in the pen as the closer, which has
stabilized the young reliever corps.
Offensively, the Dodgers are leading the National League in
homers and other than when they are playing in San Francisco they are swinging
hot bats. The Giants have swept all six games at AT&T Park this season with
the last three shutouts.
Adrian Gonzalez is having another torrid year, hitting at a
.344 clip with 10 homers and 35 RBI. Alex Guerrero (.313, 8 HR), Andre Ethier
(.311, 6 HR), Justin Turner (.287, 5 HR) Howie Kendrick (.298, 4 HR) and Joc
Pederson (.257, 12 HR) have pushed the Dodgers to the top of the home run list
in the National League. Turner and Guerrero made Juan Uribe expendable and the third
sacker was traded to the Braves today.
Ethier is the feel good story of the year. After losing a starting
position to Yasiel Puig and Carl Crawford, the veteran outfielder stepped into the batting
order and is raking while Puig and Crawford have been on the DL. The Dodgers
are deep this year and having a player of Ethier’s ability step into the
starting lineup is a luxury for Don Mattingly.