Starting in just a few minutes, there’s going to be at least six hours of almost uninterrupted Dodger baseball. Sure, none of it counts, but it’s all being broadcast, and what could be better than that?
Well, one thing — it’d be nice if we could stop acting as if Opening Day is some kind of absolute deadline for banged-up players. If Carl Crawford isn’t ready on April 1, why push him? The team needs him on June 1 and August 1 and in 2014 and 2015. I think we’d all rather have lived with Skalex Hairschullanos, Jr. for a few weeks rather than push Crawford and have his elbow pop — along with any hope of him earning some of that $105 million. The same goes for Zack Greinke, because while he’s busy saying that there’s “zero chance” he’ll be 100% by Opening Day, we’ve also got “time is running short” stories on the official site. It’s not. We’ve been over this. There’s plenty of depth and plenty of off-days. Don’t rush either, and we’ll all be happier in the long run.
On to today’s two games…
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Dodgers
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Padres
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SS
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Gordon
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SS
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Cabrera
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RF
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Ethier
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RF
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Venable
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CF
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Kemp
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3B
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Headley
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1B
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Gonzalez
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1B
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Alonso
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2B
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Schumaker
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LF
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Kotsay
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3B
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Cruz
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2B
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Gyorko
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C
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A.Ellis
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CF
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Maybin
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LF
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Castellanos
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C
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Rivera
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P
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Harang
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P
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Cashner
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****** Dodgers at Padres, 1:05pm PT (padres.com audiocast)
Not hard to see which one of these two games is the “A” game, right? Other than the absence of Hanley Ramirez, this is a lineup full of guys who should get see plenty of time for the club this season.
Aaron Harang tries desperately to prove he’s valuable to someone, and he’ll be followed by Juan Abreu, Rob Rasmussen, Shawn Tolleson, and others.
Unrelated, but worth noting: anyone want to hear Tommy Lasorda read tweets from international players in the World Baseball Classic? Sure you do. (h/t Tyler)
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Royals
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Dodgers
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LF
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Gordon
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LF
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Gwynn
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2B
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Getz
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2B
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M.Ellis
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3B
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Moustakas
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CF
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Amezaga
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RF
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Francoeur
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1B
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Uribe
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SS
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Johnson
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RF
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Puig
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1B
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Seratelli
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3B
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Herrera
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C
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Hayes
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C
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Federowicz
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DH
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Taveras
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SS
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Sellers
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CF
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Dyson
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P
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Fife
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****** Royals at Dodgers, 4:05pm PT (dodgers.com videocast)
You thought having Brian Barden destroy the ball in spring was fun? That’s Willy Taveras starting at designated hitter for the Royals, and yes, that is the same Taveras who was once the starting center fielder for Houston & Colorado years ago. Taveras hasn’t played in the bigs since 2010 and wasn’t in pro ball at all last year, yet he’s somehow hitting .458/.480/.625 in 14 games for Kansas City. Spring! Actually, my favorite Taveras fact is this: on February 1, 2010, he was traded from Cincinnati to Oakland as part of a deal for Aaron Miles. Eight days later, he was released. I’m not sure I could think of a more appropriate way to describe Aaron Miles.
As for the game itself, Stephen Fife is on the hill, to be followed by Kenley Jansen, Peter Moylan, Paco Rodriguez, & Josh Wall.
