Frankly I'm tired of hearing from Dodger fans and Dodgers management how this could be the breakout year for Clayton Kershaw or Chad Billingsley...
If you ask me Chad Billingsley is a bust.
He's not a bust as a major league pitcher but he's a bust as the teams next big ace or even #2 for that matter and I think it's safe to put that one to rest now given his 4.14 ERA heading into the All-Star break in a weak-hitting national League. At this point I can't even fathom what American league hitters might do to Chad Billingsley...
Now let's talk about Clayton Kershaw.
Most fans don't know this but Tim Lincecum was drafted the same year that Clayton Kershaw was and the Dodgers actually had a choice between the two players and opted for Kershaw instead mostly because physically Kershaw looked like a Major League pitcher.
Fast forward to today and Tim Lincecum has won two NL Cy Young awards and we're still waiting for Clayton Kershaw to develop into the true ace the Dodgers think he is.
Kershaw is 9-4 with a very respectable 2.96 ERA heading into the All-Star break and looks to be having his best season as a pro but the big question is can he do it in the middle of a pennant race and even more so can he do it in the playoffs?
Personally I think he can but I think he'll perform a lot better if Vicente Padilla and Hiroki Kuroda pitch ahead of him in the rotation. Both Padilla and Kuroda have pitched in big games before and they've both done well and with Kershaw pitching in the third spot against the other teams third best pitcher he's in the best spot of his career to acquire some post-season success.
And that's why for all the talk about Bllingsley and Kershaw it's really about the veterans on this team like Kuroda and Padilla that will lead the Dodgers into the playoffs.
Kershaw and Billingsley are no longer youngsters and they should be dominating at the major League level right now. Kershaw should be taking the ace spot and slamming the door shut on any doubt that he's the teams true ace. I think the only reason Joe Torre hasn't named Clayton Kershaw the ace is because he doesn't want to place too much pressure on the "youngster" and wants him to taste some post-season success before he asks him to face the other teams ace.
So at least for another year it'll be the veterans that lead the charge for the Dodgers into the playoff race on the pitching staff.
Offensively, again it looks like a grizzled veteran leading the charge for the Dodgers. Not Matt Kemp whom most expected to have a huge year and not Russell Martin who most expected to at least have a decent comeback season.
No it's Rafael Furcal hitting .333 going into the break getting the big hits for the Dodgers.
And while I fully expect Matt Kemp to end up having a decent season, I'm not so confident about Russell Martin coming back ever and I fully expect the biggest impact a veteran will or will not have on the Dodgers will be none other than Manny Ramirez...
Manny Ramirez will be coming back after the All-Star break and if anyone can have an impact on this team it's him. Unfortunately the effect could be either positive or negative depending on what Manny comes back.
I don't think the Dodgers will be making any big deals this season given the situation of owner Frank McCourt and his divorce and that's why I believe if the Dodgers are going to break into the playoffs, it'll be because of some old veterans leading the way.
All that being said there are a couple of youngsters really getting the job done on this Dodgers team and I'm talking about Andre Ethier (14 HR's, .324 BA) and James Loney (63 RBI, .309 BA). I give these two guys a big edge over Matt Kemp because they hit for average, they don't strike out at a ridiculous pace and they're not disasters on the base paths.
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