Roger Arrieta
With Spring Training officially under way there are plenty of reasons to look forward to the upcoming 2015 season. Although, it was recently announced that closer Kenley Jansen had unexpected foot surgery that will require him to miss 8-12 weeks, meaning he will definitely miss the first month of the season and possibly more. Jansen’s surgery has caused a lot of speculation on whether the Dodgers’ front office will look to sign a reliever in the free agent market, with the likes of Francisco Rodriguez and Rafael Soriano still available. However, some believe the Dodgers will look to replace Jansen internally with the added bullpen depth they added this offseason.
One might think that the logical thing to do is replace Jansen with Brandon League, the most experienced closer in the Dodgers bullpen. However, League has struggled during his tenure with the Dodgers even though he did enjoy a decent 2014 season, posting a 2.57 ERA in 63 IP. Another internal candidate is J.P. Howell, a reliable arm out of the pen during his tenure with the team. Other options include Chris Hatcher, the hard throwing right-hander acquired from the Marlins during the offseason in the trade involving Dee Gordon and Dan Haren. There is also Paco Rodriguez, the least likely to acquire the fill-in closer’s role. Of course none of these options are going to satisfy most fans, as they tend to overreact even if it is only the second day into spring training. But the point is that the Dodgers have enough options in their current bullpen to at least have a closer by committee thing going. I don’t see a need in spending money on an aging reliever like K-Rod who is seeking 10 million for the upcoming year. Didn’t the team just release a guy who was set to make that kind of money? I believe his name was Brian Wilson and he had an atrocious 2014 campaign.
Instead of worrying over what the bullpen situation will be, as fans we should focus on the positives of the upcoming season. The Dodgers ranked 27th in defense last season, committing 107 errors. Only the Pittsburgh, Oakland and Cleveland were worse. This was due in large part to Hanley Ramirez playing a lackluster shortstop, Dee Gordon’s inexperience at second base and the injury plagued outfield of Carl Crawford and Matt Kemp. What the new front office has done is improve the defense drastically by replacing Gordon with Howie Kendrick (a solid hitter too), replacing Ramirez with Jimmy Rollins, who sure is up there in age but is still better than fundamentally than Ramirez will ever be. They also sent Kemp to San Diego, making way for top prospect Joc Pederson to win the starting role in center field all while allowing Yasiel Puig to thrive in right field with his cannon for an arm. Not to mention they acquired Yasmani Grandal in the trade involving Kemp. Grandal has being praised for his pitch framing abilities. The corner infield spots are already solid with defensive magician, Juan Uribe holding it down at third base and reigning Gold Glove winner Adrian Gonzalez staying put at first base. The Dodgers defense is a lot better. That’s one giant detail to be excited about, especially when thinking about Rollins and Kendrick turning double plays up the middle.
Another reason to be excited is because the pitching rotation has also been revamped. With the additions of Brandon McCarthy and Brett Anderson, the new front office seems to have an idea of what they want from their pitching staff. What that is you may ask? Groundballs. The Dodgers have a groundball heavy pitching staff that will go hand in hand with the upgraded defense. McCarthy has a solid second half of the season last year with the Yankees and although Anderson is coming off an injury-plagued season, new General Manager Farhan Zaidi obviously sees something he likes. Yes one can choose to constantly worry if Zack Greinke will opt out of his contract at the end of the season, but what for? Lets just enjoy everything Greinke has to offer this season, from his stellar pitching to his honest answers with the media. Lastly, but definitely not least, let’s all be excited about Clayton Kershaw, the reigning Cy Young and MVP winner. It’s unrealistic to believe Kershaw will post the same numbers he did last season, but at the same time, doesn’t it just make you all giddy knowing that he might prove us wrong?
Spring training has just arrived and of course it will be filled with plenty of storylines along the way, including the negative stuff. But lets just enjoy what we already know: The 2015 season will be exciting and promising. Jansen will come back when he does; there is no need to rush. We have the combination of Kershaw and Greinke for at least another season, without forgetting to mention Ryu, who has been terrific as well. Opening day is 43 days way and if all goes right, it will be a matchup of Kershaw versus Kemp at Dodger Stadium. If that doesn’t send the slightest bit of excitement through your body then I don’t know what to tell you.
