Los Angeles Dodgers

Blake DeWitt is, without a doubt, having no trouble smashing the ball this spring. DeWitt is hitting a strong .368, with 2 home runs, and 5 RBI while playing 14 games and having 38 at-bats.  There is only one small problem that he is having: fielding the ball.

His lack of fielding is quite a problem, considering he is playing second base, which is a position known to get a lot of ground balls and is expected to easily turn double plays. DeWitt has already committed three errors this spring and there are still two weeks until Opening Day.

The days of waiting for a Dodgers ace may be over.

As much as Stephen Strasburg is dominating the headlines, Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers deserves our attention. In Clayton's case, it won't make much difference if he receives it now or later, but he will receive it.

The Dodgers as an organization have groomed this 2006 first-round draft pick perfectly. Easing his way into the majors, Joe Torre saw fit to keep the work load strictly within his current ability.

Long have been the days of opening our ears to the orchestra of baseball that is Vin Scully.

With fantastic elaborations and a profound prospective of the game, Mr. Scully has surely etched his name in Dodgers lore. Broadcasters on a regular basis come across plain, and at times, disagreeable. When it comes to Vin Scully, he is as irregular as they come.

On the heels of demotions to minor league camp, the Dodgers are slimming their prospective pitchers for the major league roster.

After all the hype about the return of Eric Gagne, the rebounding pitcher was sent to minor league camp and accepted the assignment.

There is no doubt that Gagne would have been welcomed in Hollywood and given a hero's welcome jogging from the bullpen to the mound, but he has been less than impressive, and the team had to pull the string.

It is no secret that the Los Angeles Dodgers have a lack of leadership in their starting rotation. Not due to lack of talent, but rather lack of experience.

Ownership didn't bite the hook this off-season for a major contributing starter, whether that be for financial reasons or simply because they didn't see a piece that would fit.

The facts are, the Dodgers want a World Championship and many would agree that you need one pitcher that can go seven to eight innings in a postseason game to get there.

Baseball is a funny game.

One minute you are considered the most lethal,  dominant closer this game has ever seen, next you are being booed by your home crowd, on your way to independent baseball.

That is what makes this game so irresistible and endearing to its players and fans.

Despite all the heartbreak one endures during a career, one’s competitiveness brings them back, wanting to prove naysayers wrong.

Teams salivate for a ballplayer who can influence a game without reaching first. The majority of the time that ballplayer is a major power threat that pitchers eye in the on-deck circle. Although Davaris (Dee) Gordon is little and different.

It is said that speed never has a slump, if that remains to be true it becomes frightening to think of what potential this 5'11", 140 lb, twenty one year old shortstop has.

Stressing fundamentals is a trait a manager would want in every player under him, that's just what this athlete does.

The day Don Mattingly decided to come over to the Los Angeles Dodgers organization following Joe Torre, Hollywood rejoiced, and immediately embraced him. Mattingly, a Hall of Famer with a stellar Major League career as a player, has already had a couple slip ups as an interim manager.

In the short week that Torre and the Dodgers split squad have been in Taiwan stretching the ties of American Baseball overseas, Mattingly has been at the helm of the Glendale squad.

Baseball is a game of numbers and here are a few that influenced the Dodgers and Hiroki Kuroda last season: 117.1 innings pitched, 20 games started, 12 HR allowed and a 40.50 postseason ERA.

Many insiders and fans alike criticize the Dodgers for the lack of offseason pick-ups after another loss to the Phillies in the NLCS.

The fact is, the Dodgers made it to the NLCS again, and believe they have what it takes to make it there and beyond this upcoming season. 

SP: Clayton Kershaw

Kershaw should be dominating, one day; In fact, I believe he will be as early as the second half of this season. Look for him to post around the same ERA (2.79-2.90) as last year, but with about 30 to 35 more innings pitched (200-205). Joe Torre is respected as being a very baseball-intelligent man, and he compared Kershaw to Sandy Koufax. That is a high praise for someone who respects Sandy as much as anyone who has seen him play.

C: Russell Martin