2011 Los Angeles Dodgers Predictions
The Los Angeles Dodgers have won at least 80 games each of the last five seasons, making them the most consistent team in the NL West in recent years. They have three division titles to show for their recent run of success but are coming off a disappointing fourth place finish. Improvement should be on the way, but it may not be enough to leap back to the top of the West. That’s because San Francisco has a better starting pitching rotation and Colorado has more fire power at the plate. The Dodgers are listed at +2500 to win the 2011 MLB World Series.
Pitching: Southpaw Clayton Kershaw has blossomed into a bona fide ace at the young age of 23. The kid went 13-10 with a 2.91 ERA in 2010 and led all NL lefties with 212 strikeouts.
Big right-hander Chad Billingsley teams with Kershaw nicely at the top of the rotation. He went 12-11 with a 3.57 ERA last season and was awesome in six daytime starts (0.94 ERA).
GM Ned Colletti re-signed Ted Lilly, Hiroki Kuroda and Vincente Padilla to make sure the Dodgers still had something left on the back end. He also brought back Jon Garland.
I really like the former Cub Lilly, who went 7-4 with a 3.52 ERA after joining the Dodgers last season.
The bullpen is solid with Jonathan Broxton and Hong-Chih Kuo. Despite a rough second half in the closer role, I’m confident Broxton can regain the form that saw him covert 19 of 21 save chances in the first half of last season. Kuo is special. He led all major league relievers with a 1.20 ERA in 2010.
Lineup: The Dodgers desperately need shortstop Rafael Furcal on the field for 150 games this season. He is an All-Star leadoff man when healthy but has missed 283 regular season game the last three years. Juan Uribe joins Furcal up the middle at second base. He is coming off a season in which he had 24 home runs and 85 RBIs – both career highs.
Casey Blake has had some back problems this spring but isn’t expected to miss significant time. He gives this team a nice veteran presence, but at age 37 is on the decline. We will see James Loney across the diamond at first. Loney fields his position as well as any player in the major leagues but his bat still leaves something to be desired from the Dodgers. Still, Loney is coming off a season in which he hit 41 doubles (a career high) and drove in a total of 88 runs (second-best on the team).
Outfielders Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp give the Dodgers two of the best sticks. Ethier is coming off an All-Star season in which he hit .292 with 23 round trippers and 82 RBIs. Kemp led the Dodgers with 28 home runs and 89 RBIs. Jay Gibbons, Tony Gwynn Jr. and Xavier Paul will all compete for playing time in left alongside these two.
It’s tough to say goodbye to two-time All-Star catcher Russell Martin, but Rod Barajas is making it a whole lot easier. His 17 home runs were good for second-most among NL backstops last season.
Prediction – 3rd Place NL West: The Dodgers are a very solid team, which means they should be in contention for much of the season. I fear in the end, however, that San Francisco and Colorado will be a little bit better. The Dodgers are listed at +300 to win the NL West.