Opening Day
March 31, 2011 at 6:49 am | Posted in John Lindsey, Jon Link, Opening Day | 28 Comments
At Baseball Prospectus this morning, my weekly fantasy article about relief pitchers went live, and I noted the beginning of the season thusly:
It’s Opening Day! Or, as I like to think of it, “the equivalent of Christmas plus your birthday multiplied by ten Super Bowls”–not to overstate it, of course. It really ought to be a national holiday, no?
That’s the toned-down version, because in reality, it’s more like “Christmas plus your birthday multiplied by ten Super Bowls but if the Super Bowl teams were comprised of puppies that paid out rare coins and had the answers to all of history’s greatest mysteries.” Not enough? Throw in some zombie strippers wielding chainsaws then, too. Whatever fantastic situation you can come up with, that’s how great Opening Day is to baseball fans. After a long winter that started with wondering who would fill 3/5 of the rotation but quickly turned into hand-wringing over the offense and left field in particular, we finally get to see the results on the field. It’s the day we’ve been waiting for for months.
Here’s the lineup you’re likely to see today:
1. Rafael Furcal SS
2. Tony Gwynn, Jr. LF
3. Andre Ethier RF
4. Matt Kemp CF
5. James Loney 1B
6. Juan Uribe 3B
7. Rod Barajas C
8. Jamey Carroll 2B
9. Clayton Kershaw P
In addition, the final roster has now been set, and as I’d hoped, A.J. Ellis did make the squad, sparing us the worry of having Hector Gimenez being the only backup catcher to Barajas. Non-roster players Aaron Miles, Mike MacDougal, and Lance Cormier all made the club, requiring two 40-man moves. John Lindsey was DFA’d, which we’d widely expected, but so was Jon Link, which came as something of a surprise. Lindsey’s almost certain to pass through waivers and report to Albuquerque, but I’m not as sure that Link makes it through – particularly because I’m not all that convinced that either Cormier or MacDougal are better than he is.
Finally, also at BP, I took part in pre-season predictions. While I did pick the Dodgers third in the NL West, I was also one of the few who took Kershaw as the NL Cy Young winner. We didn’t go into wins, but I believe I’ve said before that this is a club that’s built for 85 wins, and one you could just easily see winning 80 or less as you could 90 for more.
Is that a championship team? Probably not. But that is a team that looks to be in contention all year, and that alone makes for a fun season. Can’t wait – let’s get to it.
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Mike thanks for being there with us all year as a great source of info. your like a Vin Scully of Dodgers Blogs. I think this team could suprise us. heres to a great season ahead. lets bring back the world series to dodgers stadium where it belongs. lets go blue!!!
Comment by format— March 31, 2011 #
Interesting lineup. Counting Barajas, I see three back-ups in there.
Also interesting roster moves. Sorry to see Link on that list, as it makes that Pierre trade harder to swallow. We are paying the White Sox left fielder and lead-off hitter more than we are paying our own left field platoon – is he worth $8.5 million? Probably not, but frankly I would rather see the 50 stolen bases and 90 runs scored than John Ely. But that’s just me.
Yeah, this team could surprise. Hope so. If not, attendance will be down, and that actually could be a good thing if it forces McCourt to sell. If fans keep coming, maybe a mid-season move will be affordable. So many if’s.
Comment by Rory— March 31, 2011 #
Mike, thanks as always for the informed commentary.
Whenever you have a chance, could you elaborate on the MacDougal/Cormier decision over Link? Had he pitched better in Spring Training, would he have made it? …Also, now that the roster is official, how will things change when players from the DL return?
Comment by gprobins— March 31, 2011 #
My predictions:
Blake returns, DeJesus goes down.
Gibbons returns, Gimenez DFA’d.
Garland returns, Paul DFA’d.
Padilla returns, Cormier (or MacDougal) DFA’d.
Navarro’s a bit further off, so we’ll see if Ellis has played well enough to fight him off by then.
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— March 31, 2011 #
It’s tiiimmme for Dodgers baseball!
Hi everybody, and a very pleasant Thursday evening to you, wherever you may be…
Comment by Danny— March 31, 2011 #
More glorious words have never been spoken.
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— March 31, 2011 #
Agreed. With the lone exception-
“In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened.”
Comment by Danny— March 31, 2011 #
as long as these guys put a better product on the field, i’ll be happy.
i’ve felt better about this season than others. who knows what could happen.
Comment by omer333— March 31, 2011 #
I have a 50 push-up bet with a buddy who is a Gints fan.
Should I loosen up?
Comment by Rory— March 31, 2011 #
For today’s game? or the whole season? I’m confident in Kershaw tonight. Over the long haul… start stretching.
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— March 31, 2011 #
It’s on tonight’s game.
So, you got Kershaw over Lincecum? I say that match-up is a draw. I also say Lincecum stays in the game for an inning longer (maybe an inning+) and the game will be decided by the bullpens.
I am going to start stretching just to be safe. We gave each other two sets in which to get them done.
Comment by Rory— March 31, 2011 #
Russel Martin’s first Yankee AB: single.
Comment by ThtsaPaddlin— March 31, 2011 #
With a stolen base.
Comment by ThtsaPaddlin— March 31, 2011 #
And a Run.
Comment by ThtsaPaddlin— March 31, 2011 #
Seems like that always happens, but lets see if it keeps up
Comment by DodgersKings323— March 31, 2011 #
>> Finally, also at BP, I took part in pre-season predictions. While I did pick the Dodgers third in the NL West, I was also one of the few who took Kershaw as the NL Cy Young winner.
.
Not all THAT few – 5 out of 30 took Kershaw.
.
The tightest race in the predictions is between the Blue Jays and Orioles for fourth place – let’s bring it!!! :)
Comment by nsxtasy— March 31, 2011 #
Hey, tonight’s game is ESPN, right? Does that mean no Vin?
Comment by jimishelter— March 31, 2011 #
Vin’s on the radio, I believe.
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— March 31, 2011 #
I hope it’s not just three innings!
Comment by jimishelter— March 31, 2011 #
Vin is doing six innings on radio tonight.
Comment by Dustin Nosler— March 31, 2011 #
I forgot to order my Sportsync that delays the radio to sync it with the TV broadcast!
Comment by DodgersKings323— March 31, 2011 #
Zombie Strippers. Maybe we can have that instead of some bobblehead nite
Comment by David S— March 31, 2011 #
Hi, my name is Natalie Griffith. Did you ever coach Chuck Finley? Back before Christmas of 2009, I was close friends with him; but I got into a tragic accident 12/25/09 and lost my phone. I hear I was very close to Chuck. But I Please give him my email. Thanks
Natalie Griffith
Comment by Natalie Griffith— March 31, 2011 #
So what did we learn today?
-Broxton still has no heart.
-Rod Barajas>Buster Posey
-Loney is still an RBI machine.
-Dodgers own the Giants.
-Kemp’s batting eye has improved because he dumped Rihana.
Comment by Brandon— March 31, 2011 #
I was about to jump all over this post but then I saw “Rod Barajas>Buster Posey” and just chuckled instead.
Comment by Bip— March 31, 2011 #
Wow, I seriously hope that was all meant to be sarcastic.
On a side note, as soon as I saw Broxton give up that home run my heart sank because I knew the masses would be back with their pitchforks calling for Brox’s head.
Comment by Jorge— March 31, 2011 #
[...] 31, 2011 at 8:24 pm | Posted in Clayton Kershaw, Jonathan Broxton, Matt Kemp | Leave a Comment Earlier today, I noted that I had picked Clayton Kershaw to finish 1st in the NL Cy Young Award voting over at [...]
Pingback by So It Turns Out That Clayton Kershaw Is Pretty Good « Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— March 31, 2011 #
[...] March 31: Earlier today, I noted that I had picked Clayton Kershaw to finish 1st in the NL Cy Young Award voting over at [...]
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