The Dodgers offense, projected before the season to be one of the most dangerous in the National League, had yet to really kick into high gear through April 12. Although the Dodgers broke out for 11 runs on Saturday night at Arizona, they scored a total of 21 in the other six games on their season-opening trip, and manager Joe Torre already felt the need to tweak things slightly when he moved slumping OF Andre Ethier out of the cleanup spot and down to sixth, flipping him with 1B James Loney, who had been hot. And while OF Manny Ramirez had been decent, he hadn't yet been spectacular. Through the weekend, the club was still waiting for him to hit his first home run. The Dodgers probably don't have the overall pitching to overcome a lack of offense, so the hitters need to kick it into a higher gear fairly soon if the club hopes to get off to a fast start in the National League West. Monday's 11-run outburst against San Francisco was definitely a step in the right direction.
PLAYER NEWS: --LHP Clayton Kershaw will make his 24th big-league start Wednesday against the Giants. Kershaw is looking for his first win of the season despite holding the Padres to just a run on two hits over five innings Thursday, when the Dodgers' bullpen allowed the game to get away in the eighth inning. Kershaw turned 21 during spring training and said he had the first alcoholic beverage of his life that night, ordering one beer while dining out with his girlfriend and her parents.
--LF Manny Ramirez jokingly said several times during spring training that he was going to become a singles hitter. True to his word, he still hasn't homered for the Dodgers through eight games and only three of his seven hits have gone for extra bases, but he is hitting .304 with a .529 on-base percentage after drawing 11 walks in 37 plate appearances, two of them intentional. Ramirez has four RBI this season and needs three more to tie Honus Wagner for 19th on the all-time list with 1,732.
--RF Andre Ethier continues to thrive after proving last season that he could handle the rigors of a full season. Ethier homered twice for the second time in his career Monday against the Giants and has a .417 on-base percentage after walking more times (seven) than he has struck out (five) in the Dodgers' first eight games. Ethier batted .462 last September after hitting a combined .198 for that month in his first two seasons.
MEDICAL WATCH:
RHP Hiroki Kuroda (strained left oblique) went on the 15-day disabled list April 11. The Dodgers don't think the injury is serious.
RHP Claudio Vargas (right elbow tendinitis) went on the 60-day disabled list retroactive to April 6.
RHP Jason Schmidt (right shoulder surgery) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 30. He threw a game in extended spring training on April 8, and he was not yet close to starting a minor league rehab assignment.
ROTATION:
LHP Randy Wolf
RHP Chad Billingsley
LHP Clayton Kershaw
LHP Eric Stults
BULLPEN:
RHP Jonathan Broxton (closer)
LHP Hong-Chih Kuo
RHP Guillermo Mota
LHP Will Ohman
RHP Ronald Belisario
RHP Ramon Troncoso
RHP Cory Wade
RHP James McDonald
CATCHERS:
Russell Martin
Brad Ausmus
INFIELDERS:
1B James Loney
2B Orlando Hudson
SS Rafael Furcal
3B Casey Blake
INF Juan Castro
INF Mark Loretta
INF Doug Mientkiewicz
OUTFIELDERS:
LF Manny Ramirez
CF Matt Kemp
RF Andre Ethier
OF Juan Pierre
