Bleed Blue | Los Angeles Dodgers

[beamerball811]

Quote: Originally Posted by Equinox831

Oh my, you're going to have lights out pitching for years. Good luck this season!

Thanks! My rotation is definitely a strength, the problem is going to be retaining everyone with them all wanting a large salary and being worthy of it. The bullpen isn't going to be too good either, which is a concern I have going in. Can't wait to get this started though.

[Equinox831]

Quote: Originally Posted by beamerball811

Thanks! My rotation is definitely a strength, the problem is going to be retaining everyone with them all wanting a large salary and being worthy of it. The bullpen isn't going to be too good either, which is a concern I have going in. Can't wait to get this started though.

Well with the Dodgers you have a massive budget to work with so I'm sure you can pull it off.

[beamerball811]

Quote: Originally Posted by Equinox831

Well with the Dodgers you have a massive budget to work with so I'm sure you can pull it off.

We'll see what happens when we get there!

Game update coming later.

[beamerball811]

Dodgers win on Opening Day
March 22, 2014
Sydney, Australia
By Associated Press

Pitching ruled Opening Day between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks in Australia as the Dodgers walked away with a 1-0 win.

Felix Hernandez was outstanding in the opener allowing just two hits in eight innings of work and he could have gone 10 innings if needed. The Dodgers' offense looked good by getting baserunners on in six of the nine innings, but couldn't capitalize until the ninth.

"It felt great to get out on the field and finally start to mesh with the guys," Hernandez said. "Our offense put a lot of pressure on their pitchers, which gave me a load of confidence that we'd find a way to come through."

George Springer and Pablo Sandoval gave the Diamondbacks fits by combining for six of the 10 hits for the Dodgers. However, it wasn't until rookie Jon Singleton stepped up to the plate that the game's only run would score. In a crucial spot with one out, Singleton stepped up to the plate with Wellington Castillo 90 feet away from giving the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. With the infield in, Singleton hit a fly ball to deep right-center field that would allow Castillo to score and give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.

"I thought about leaving Felix in there to hit, but elected to go with Jon in a high-pressure spot," Dodgers' manager Don Mattingly said. "It was a gamble to go with the rookie in that situation, but he came through."

Rookie shortstop Addison Russell struggled for the Diamondbacks going 0-3 with two strikeouts and grounding into a double play. Meanwhile, Springer went 3-4 in his major league debut for the Dodgers.

The two teams will meet Sunday for the conclusion of the overseas trip with Michael Wacha pitching for the Dodgers and Kris Medlen for the Diamondbacks.

Los Angeles Dodgers at Arizona Diamondbacks
Mar 22, 2014	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Los Angeles (0-0)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	10	1
Arizona (0-0)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
W: Felix Hernandez (1-0) L: Craig Kimbrel (0-1) S: Carlos Martinez (1)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			LAD	ARI
LAD	9	Jon Singleton hits sacrifice fly, Castillo scores	1	0

Los Angeles Dodgers
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
2B Dee Gordon	5	0	0	0	0	1	.000
CF JB Shuck	3	0	0	0	1	0	.000
RF Yasiel Puig	4	0	1	0	0	1	.250
3B Pablo Sandoval	4	0	3	0	0	0	.750
LF George Springer	4	0	3	0	0	1	.750
1B Casey Kotchman	4	0	1	0	0	0	.250
C Wellington Castillo	4	1	1	0	0	1	.250
SS Jose Iglesias	4	0	0	0	0	3	.000
SP Felix Hernandez	3	0	1	0	0	2	.333
PH Jon Singleton	0	0	0	1	0	0	.000
TOTALS	35	1	10	1	1	9
BATTING RBI: Singleton (1) SF: Singleton
BASERUNNING SB: Springer (1)
FIELDING E: Gordon (1)

Los Angeles Dodgers
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Felix Hernandez (W, 1-0)	8.0	2	0	0	2	4	0.00
Carlos Martinez (S, 1)	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0.00
TOTALS	9.0	3	0	0	2	4

Arizona Diamondbacks
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
CF Emilio Bonifacio	4	0	0	0	0	0	.000
2B Eduardo Nunez	3	0	0	0	1	0	.000
C Wilin Rosario	4	0	1	0	0	1	.250
1B Ike Davis	4	0	1	0	0	0	.250
LF Carl Crawford	3	0	0	0	0	0	.000
3B Brett Lawrie	3	0	1	0	0	0	.333
PR Brett Jackson	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
SS Addison Russell	3	0	0	0	0	2	.000
RF Cody Ross	2	0	0	0	1	0	.000
SP Anibal Sanchez	2	0	0	0	0	0	.000
PH Conor Gillaspie	1	0	0	0	0	1	.000
TOTALS	29	0	3	0	2	4
BATTING 2B: Davis (1), Lawrie (1) GIDP: Rosario, Russell

Arizona Diamondbacks
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Anibal Sanchez	7.2	9	0	0	1	8	0.00
Sergio Santos	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Craig Kimbrel (L, 0-1)	1.0	1	1	0	0	1	0.00
TOTALS	9.0	10	1	0	1	9

[beamerball811]

Wacha continues great performance, Dodgers sweep in Australia
March 23, 2014
Sydney, Australia
By Associated Press



Fans were treated to a back-and-forth game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks in a game that the Dodgers won 3-2 on Sunday.

Dodgers' starter Michael Wacha was impressive in his first start for the Dodgers striking out 11 batters in seven innings. D-Backs hitters were frustrated all day at the plate as 16 of 27 hitters were retired by way of a strikeout.

"[Michael] Wacha looked great today on the mound," Dodgers' manager Don Mattingly said. "He was comfortable and confident on the mound and it really set the tone for our bullpen to come in and do well."

Arizona starter Kris Medlen looked sharp in his first outing, going 5.1 innings and allowing two runs. Dodgers' second baseman Dee Gordon went 3-5 Sunday, scoring two runs and stealing his first base. Right fielder Yasiel Puig drove in all three runs for the Dodgers, however did not get a hit.

Rookie first baseman Jon Singleton gave the Australian crowd a burst of excitement in the eighth inning when he hit a deep double into the left-center field gap. Singleton has made some noise to begin his career with a game-winning sacrifice fly Saturday and a loud double in Sunday's game.

"Our offense continues to look good and we continue to get on base," Dee Gordon said. "It's just another example of how we are coming together as a team."

Dodgers' closer Carlos Martinez continues to live up to the hype by earning his second save in as many chances. Martinez struck out the last two hitters and sealed the deal as the Dodgers come back to the United States with a 2-0 record.

Los Angeles Dodgers at Arizona Diamondbacks
Mar 23, 2014	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Los Angeles (1-0)	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	3	9	0
Arizona (0-1)	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	5	1
W: Michael Wacha (1-0) L: Brad Ziegler (0-1) S: Carlos Martinez (2)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			LAD	ARI
LAD	1	Yasiel Puig grounds out 3U, Gordon scores	1	0
ARI	4	Wilin Rosario grounds into fielder's choice, Nunez scores	1	1
LAD	5	Yasiel Puig hits sacrifice fly, Gordon scores	2	1
ARI	6	Carl Crawford grounds into fielder's choice, Nunez scores	2	2
LAD	7	Yasiel Puig hits sacrifice fly, Shuck scores	3	2

Los Angeles Dodgers
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
2B Dee Gordon	5	2	3	0	0	0	.300
CF JB Shuck	4	1	1	0	0	0	.143
RF Yasiel Puig	2	0	0	3	0	0	.167
3B Pablo Sandoval	4	0	1	0	0	0	.500
LF George Springer	4	0	0	0	0	1	.375
1B Casey Kotchman	3	0	1	0	1	1	.286
C Wellington Castillo	4	0	2	0	0	0	.375
SS Jose Iglesias	4	0	0	0	0	0	.000
SP Michael Wacha	3	0	0	0	0	0	.000
1B Jon Singleton	1	0	1	0	0	0	1.000
TOTALS	34	3	9	3	1	2
BATTING 2B: Singleton (1) 3B: Gordon (1), Shuck (1) RBI: Puig (1,2,3) SF: Puig 2 SAC: Shuck
BASERUNNING SB: Gordon (1)

Los Angeles Dodgers
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Michael Wacha (W, 1-0)	7.0	5	2	2	1	11	2.57
Nick Vincent (H, 1)	0.2	0	0	0	0	2	0.00
Alex Torres (H, 1)	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0.00
Carlos Martinez (S, 2)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0.00
TOTALS	9.0	5	2	2	1	16

Arizona Diamondbacks
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
CF Emilio Bonifacio	4	0	0	0	0	2	.000
2B Eduardo Nunez	4	2	2	0	0	1	.286
C Wilin Rosario	4	0	0	1	0	3	.125
1B Ike Davis	3	0	1	0	1	2	.286
LF Carl Crawford	3	0	1	1	0	1	.167
PH Nick Swisher	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000
3B Brett Lawrie	4	0	1	0	0	2	.286
RF Cody Ross	3	0	0	0	0	1	.000
SP Kris Medlen	2	0	0	0	0	2	.000
PH Conor Gillaspie	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000
TOTALS	33	2	5	2	1	16
BATTING 2B: Lawrie (2) 3B: Nunez (1,2) RBI: Rosario (1), Crawford (1)
FIELDING E: Roasario (1)

Arizona Diamondbacks
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Kris Medlen	5.1	7	2	2	1	1	3.38
Brad Ziegler (L, 0-1)	1.2	1	1	1	0	0	5.40
Sergio Santos	2.0	1	0	0	0	1	0.00
TOTALS	9.0	9	3	3	1	2

[beamerball811]

Dodgers travel to San Diego
Los Angeles, California
March 26, 2014
By Associated Press



Coming off a two-game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Los Angeles Dodgers have a week to adjust to the time change and fly to San Diego for their three-game series with the Padres.

Felix Hernandez and Michael Wacha looked great in their first two starts in Australia and will look to continue their success in the first two games of their upcoming series. Hernandez will match up against Ian Kennedy while Wacha will face rookie Marcus Stroman. In the third game of the series, Masahiro Tanaka will make his major league debut against left-hander Alex Wood.

The Padres have a strong rotation, but will generate wins with their offense. Built around superstar Mike Trout, the Padres offense has speed at the top of the lineup with shortstop Elvis Andrus and power behind Trout with third baseman Will Middlebrooks and left fielder Alex Gordon. The Friars have the ability to explode at any point in their lineup and can do some serious damage.

"It's one of those things where we are built on pitching and they're more of an offensive team," Dodgers' ace Felix Hernandez said. "Our [pitching] staff needs to be sharp and need to get off to a great start to bother this lineup and throw them off their game, but more importantly just play our game."

The Dodgers will be rested from playing two straight games and a long day of travel. They have returned to Los Angeles and did not go back to their spring training facilities while the other teams finished up their springs. The biggest factor of the week for the Dodgers is adjusting to the time differential and getting back on the west coast.

In order for the offense to have great production, the bottom half of the lineup will have to start producing. This season will be a struggle if all the production is coming from the top half of the lineup. It will make game planning a lot easier for opponents if they only have to thoroughly prepare for half of the team.

[Deuce2223]

Agree with the earlier statement about your rotation in a year or 2 could be the best in baseball if all your young guy's develop.

Because if it, you sacrificed with unknowns in 1B, LF,2B,and even CF, but again you have enough youth at those positions that someone should pan out.

I am not sure why you have Carlos Martinez as your closer. I get the fact he throws heat, but I have always thought the Cardinals view him as a SP behind Wacha and Miller.

So well your rotation might be your strength I think your bullpen is probably your weakness, but then again if your starters go 7-8 IP then it won't matter much

[beamerball811]

Quote: Originally Posted by Deuce2223

Agree with the earlier statement about your rotation in a year or 2 could be the best in baseball if all your young guy's develop. Because if it, you sacrificed with unknowns in 1B, LF,2B,and even CF, but again you have enough youth at those positions that someone should pan out. I am not sure why you have Carlos Martinez as your closer. I get the fact he throws heat, but I have always thought the Cardinals view him as a SP behind Wacha and Miller. So well your rotation might be your strength I think your bullpen is probably your weakness, but then again if your starters go 7-8 IP then it won't matter much

I also feel strongly that the rotation is my strength and my bullpen is also my weakness. Martinez definitely throws heat, but he also has a nasty curveball. The Cards may want him to be a starter, but I want to use him as my closer for the future. I think he would make a great closer, at least in the game, while he has to work on his control a little bit more before he could do it in real life.

As for my lineup, Kotchman has limited range at first base but has a decent enough bat. Gordon will likely develop and I think is great for the top of my lineup with his speed. Shuck isn't the best in center field, but he has the ability to hit for average. Springer is one of the more talented players in the lineup, but I would love to acquire a power hitter so that I can move Springer down in the lineup.

I've thought about moving Pablo to first base when Kris Bryant or Javy Baez is ready to be called up. There may be a situation where I would deal Iglesias if Baez is ready and keep him at shortstop also. There are so many possibilities depending on how the farm system develops.