The season starts today with a game between Atlanta and Philadelphia tonight, the rest of the league starts tomorrow. Checkout my new Spring Training Photos Page for some shots from last weekend.
Torre “Managing” The Youngsters
Torre has FINALLY announced James McDonald as the fifth starter even though he has been in line for the spot for the past two weeks. Boy, Torre sure knows how to make a rookie worry about it! Because that is exactly why he did not announce it earlier. I think it had something to do with McDonald beating out proven veteran pitchers with World Series rings and the fact that he did not want McDonald basking in the wonderment for too long. He wants him focused and sharp.
These are the managerial things that most people do not see or realize. Lasorda was great at these types of things and Torre has always been touted for the way he handles players young and old. Thank God we have him on the Dodgers because he is exactly what this team needs!
Chin-lung Hu, pitcher Eric Stults, catcher A.J. Ellis and outfielders Jason Repko and Xavier Paul were all optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque. They also surprisingly assigned non-roster invitee Jeff Weaver to AAA as well.
“We’ve asked him to extend a little bit. We want him to become a long man or a spot starter. He was obviously disappointed. He was worthy of making this club, but again, we’re on the limited side in terms of 40-man spots,”
said Torre.
Delwyn Young and pitchers Jason Schmidt and Claudio Vargas are expected to begin the season on the disabled list. Wow, big surprise. But Loretta is ready to go and so is Ohman!
The team, minus Manny, Furcal, Hudson, and Martin all head to the dreaded Bay Area to face the Gigantes today at 1:05pm PST. Booooooooooo Giants!
